Cape Town All Stars Football Club confirmed that they had sold their Motsepe Foundation Championship franchise to Black Leopards, bringing to an end weeks of speculation. During an interview on Monday with the general manager of Stars, Mr Zukiswa Simelukane, he confirmed that the sale of their club's status to Lidoda duvha was a done deal.
Mr Simelukane said that the decision to sell the club's franchise had not been an easy one to take. According to him, the financial position of the club had forced them to sell the club's status to the highest bidder. He further stated that for things to end in such an embarrassing manner after the team had been competing for the league championship throughout the season was disappointing.
All Stars had finished their league programme in the fourth position on the log standings with 48 points, nine behind the league champions, Polokwane City. Simelukane said that the technical team had managed to assemble a formidable squad during the off-season and that they could have won the league title, had it not been for the financial hiccups they had encountered towards the end of the season.
Speculation regarding the sale of All Stars, or Umlilo as they are also known, started flying around about four months ago. The club is said to have failed to pay the April and May salaries of some of the players because of the growing financial constraints. Mr Simelukane did not want to comment on the matter. He reiterated the fact that he was happy that all the challenges they had to face during the season were now part of history.
Asked about the fate of the players who were still contracted to the club, Simelukane said that most of their players' employment contracts would expire at the end of this month.
The managing director of Black Leopards, Mr Tshifhiwa Thidiela, dismissed Mr Simelukane's utterances as untrue. He said that while he could confirm that negotiations with All Stars were ongoing, the contention that the two parties had already signed a sale agreement was untrue.