The Premier Soccer League has authorized the sale of Bloemfontein Celtic to Shauwn Mkhize’s Royal AM, allowing a club that was recently found guilty of bringing the league into disgrace to purchase DStv Premiership status.
This comes after Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila confirmed on Saturday that they had purchased the GladAfrica Championship status of Royal AM.
Celtic’s financial difficulties have been well publicized for years, with Phunya Sele Sele owner Max Tshabalala being claimed to have a South African Revenue Service (SARS) debt of R43 million as recently as 2018.
The transaction has been approved by the Premier Soccer League’s executive committee, according to papers released from the league. This comes only a few days after Royal AM were found guilty of bringing the league into disgrace by neglecting to attend the promotion/relegation play-offs.
BREAKING NEWS#FARPost can confirm that the PSL Exco has approved Bloem Celtic’s sale.
Now the only outstanding matter is for the money to exchange hands between Celtic boss Max Tshabalala and the buyer, Shauwn Mkhize.
The deal is worth R50-million. pic.twitter.com/I8AbIQoZIH
— FARPost_ZA (@FARPostZA) August 14, 2021
The PSL have approved plenty of club sales in recent times, with many clubs struggling even more for cash in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
TTM were permitted to purchase Royal AM, despite having to sell their top flight status to Marumo Gallants last season due to rumors of them being unable to pay player payments.
The fact that TTM were able to purchase Bidvest Wits’ Premiership status at the end of the 2019/20 season prompted questions about the league’s due diligence on transactions in retrospect.
Since the completion of the season, Royal AM has courted controversy by suing the PSL after losing out on automatic promotion to Sekhukhune United. Polokwane City fielded an ineligible player against United in a GladAfrica Championship match in January, earning United an additional three points.
Those points propelled them over Royal AM in the Championship table, upsetting the KZN club, who took the PSL to court and briefly secured a court order postponing the play-offs, in which they were scheduled to compete. Despite the fact that the court injunction was reversed, Royal AM refused to participate in the playoffs, putting them in hot water with PSL prosecutor Nande Becker.
