The revelation about which two clubs will face off to decide the champion of the ABC Motsepe League in the Free State for the 2022-’23 season will have to wait for the outcome of boardroom decisions by Safa. The disputes will be heard by the federation’s disciplinary committee.
As is usual at the end of every season, aggrieved teams lodged their disputes. The outcome of the disputes will be binding.
The ABC Motsepe League in the Free State was concluded on Saturday (01/04).
According to Mosa Lebone-Dlamini, provincial executive officer of Safa, at least two cases will be heard, with the outcomes thereof paving the way for the staging of the provincial play-offs meant to determine the overall champion.
One of the cases involve the arbitration between Mangaung Unite FC and FC Black Cross. The dispute between the rival teams is centred around Kamogelo Wolf’s registration without a Fifa International Transfer Certificate (ITC) from Lesotho’s football outfit Bantu FC.
Mangaung filed for arbitration, seeking to overturn the decision by Daniel Thulo, Safa Free State disciplinary committee chairperson, who had ruled in favour of Black Cross after finding the club in no wrong fielding the player without proper documents. He further ordered that Mangaung and Safa Free State pay the costs of the sittings.
It is unclear if the disputes will affect stream A. The hearings are expected to also determine the fate of teams to be relegated from the ABC Motsepe League in the Free State.
It is expected that after concluding the disputes, the federation will announce the venue and the two clubs to compete for the provincial title, with the winner of this clash being crowned as the champion.
Mangaung previously won the provincial title a record three times in a row. The Sasolburg-based outfit Dikwena FC was crowned the champion of the 2021-‘22 season after beating now defunct Bloemfontein Celtic in the provincial play-offs.
