Royal AM have been fined a total of R4 million by the Premier Soccer League and docked 12 points for the 2021/22 season – but the points are part of a suspended sentence, as is most of the R4 million, following a ruling released by the PSL on Tuesday.
A PSL Disciplinary Committee (DC) found Royal AM guilty earlier this month for bringing the league into disrepute after they failed to attend the promotion/relegation play-offs at the end of the 2020/21 season.
The ruling handed down on Tuesday, as expected, awarded 3-0 wins to Royal AM’s opponents – Chippa United and Richard Bay – in the play-off matches that they missed, meaning Chippa United remain in the DStv Premiership, though in any case, the South African top flight has already kicked off.
Royal AM were also fined R1 million per match that they missed, but R700 000 of this is suspended for two years on the condition that they do not again fail to attend a PSL match.
That means the immediate fine handed down to Royal AM is only R1.2 million. Royal AM were also docked 12 points for the current season in the ruling, but that is also suspended for a year, as long as again, they do not fail to honour a fixture in that time period.
The decision by the PSL to allow Royal AM to buy the Premiership status of Bloemfontein Celtic, and take their place in this season’s top flight campaign, had been greeted with plenty of criticism, given that the league’s Executive Committee sanctioned the sale to a club that their own disciplinary committee had just found guilty of such a serious offence.
And this ruling also looks soft, in the sense that most of the damage is suspended, effectively giving the Shauwn Mkhize’s side a second chance, barring the R1.2 million in fines and the fact that they have to pay court costs.
Royal AM opened their DStv Premiership campaign with a 1-0 loss to Swallows FC on Sunday, and will now host Cape Town City at Chatsworth Stadium on Wednesday.
