AmaZulu were plunged to rock bottom of the Absa Premiership log on Friday when they were docked six points by the Premier Soccer League (PSL) for defying rulings of global body of Fifa and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
This was as a result of AmaZulu having been found guilty by Fifa’s Disciplinary Committee (DC) for failing to comply with a decision passed by CAS on September 13‚ 2017 regarding an employment-related dispute between Namibian player Phinheas Nambandi and the Durban club.
According to the Fifa Disciplinary Committee ruling seen by TimesLIVE‚ AmaZulu were ordered to pay‚ among others: “R1‚086m as compensation for breach of contract within 30 days from the date of notification of the decision plus 5% interest per annum‚ as from 25 July 2014.”
The PSL executive committee met on Thursday and resolved to enforce‚ as per the world governing body rules‚ the Fifa DC ruling to dock six points from the Durban club.
A statement released by the PSL on Friday reads: “Consequently‚ the League has compiled a revised Absa Premiership log standings. AmaZulu now have one (1) point.”
As a result AmaZulu have plummeted to bottom of the log standings and now have just a single point from six league matches‚ four points behind second-last Black Leopards.
AmaZulu‚ however‚ are not yet out of the woods and face further punishment in the form of relegation should the club continue to defy the Fifa ruling and not pay the player the monies due to him.
Fifa’s Disciplinary Committee states: “If payment is not made to the player and proof of such payment is not provided to the secretariat to the Fifa Disciplinary Committee and the South African Football Association by this deadline [September 16‚ 2018]‚ six points will be deducted automatically by Safa without a further formal decision having to be taken nor any order to be issued by the Fifa Disciplinary Committee or its secretariat.”
Nambandi‚ through Safpu‚ took AmaZulu to Fifa in July 2014 after the club terminated his contract‚ which still had three more years to run.
After more than a year of unsuccessful attempts by Safpu to get AmaZulu to pay out the player‚ the union reported the club to Fifa in June 2016. Nambadi initially wanted a R300‚000 settlement as he was struggling to meet his financial obligations following the termination of his contract but AmaZulu still refused.
Fifa ruled in favour of Nambandi in September 2017.
AmaZulu were also ordered to pay costs and expenses incurred in connection with the arbitration proceedings.
The Durban club appealed to CAS for a final and binding arbitration and‚ 12 months later lost the case as the court upheld the Fifa ruling.
When AmaZulu seemingly ignored the CAS decision‚ the matter was then sent back to the Fifa Disciplinary Committee.
The committee handed down a final judgment on August 10‚ 2018 and gave AmaZulu until September 16 to settle their debt with the player.
