The Limpopo High Court on Friday dismissed with costs an urgent application by Magomani All Zones Football Club to halt this weekend’s SAFA Vhembe “Champ of Champs” play-offs, clearing the way for the promotional play-offs to proceed as scheduled on Saturday.
SAFA Vhembe confirmed the outcome in a circular to all Singo Fuels Regional League clubs on Friday, stating that the play-offs “will be played in accordance with the released fixtures.”
Magomani had approached the court, arguing that three complaints it lodged in May against Stream A rivals Ntsemi Football Club — alleging the bribery of one of its players, the fielding of an ineligible player by Ntsemi, and the manipulation of a league match — had never been decided on their merits and that the play-offs should not proceed while the complaints remained unresolved. The court’s reasons for dismissing the application, and whether it addressed the merits of Magomani’s underlying complaints, were not available at the time of publication.
In an unrelated matter, a disciplinary dispute involving Mukondeni Royal FC and Valdezia FC — both Group B qualifiers for this weekend’s play-offs — was also resolved this week after SAFA arbitrator Adv Nandipha Ntsaluba set aside earlier findings of the SAFA Vhembe Disciplinary Committee and ordered a fresh hearing.
The dispute arose from a Group B fixture between Mukondeni Royal and Valdezia on 7 February. The SAFA Vhembe Disciplinary Committee had cleared Mukondeni Royal of wrongdoing and accepted a guilty plea tendered on Valdezia’s behalf. Mashamba Soccer Academy, another club whose league standing was affected by the resulting award of points, appealed the outcome, and the SAFA Appeal Board upheld the appeal on 2 July.
The matter then went to arbitration, where Adv Ntsaluba found, among other things, a reasonable apprehension of bias, with the same disciplinary chairperson having reached irreconcilable outcomes in two related matters heard on the same day. She also identified unresolved questions over who had the authority to plead guilty on Valdezia’s behalf and inconsistent evidence about when the two teams had arrived at the venue.
In her ruling, delivered on 8 July, Adv Ntsaluba set aside both the discharge of Mukondeni Royal and the guilty plea entered on behalf of Valdezia, and remitted the matter for a consolidated rehearing before a differently constituted disciplinary committee. She also directed SAFA Vhembe to review its protocols for drafting charge sheets and keeping records.
The rehearing was concluded on Friday, with Valdezia FC found guilty of causing the abandonment of the disputed fixture. The club was fined R3,000, payable within 30 days, and the match points and goals were awarded to Mukondeni Royal FC.
GROUP STAGE AND FIXTURES
The 10 stream winners were split into two groups in a draw held on 27 June and will play on a round-robin basis:
Group A: Berea FC, Ntsemi FC, Saudi FC, Maelula United Brothers, FC Basel
Group B: Mukondeni Royals FC, Mahagala Young Stars, ABC FC, Ramahantsha Blackpool, Ndiitwani Shooting Stars
Saturday, 11 July – Makhuvha Stadium (Group A):
07:00 Maelula United Brothers v Berea FC
09:00 FC Basel v Ntsemi FC
11:00 Berea FC v Saudi FC
13:00 Ntsemi FC v Maelula United Brothers
15:00 Saudi FC v FC Basel
Saturday, 11 July – Tshifulanani Stadium (Group B):
07:00 Mahagala Young Stars v Mukondeni Royals
09:00 Ramahantsha Blackpool v ABC FC
11:00 Mukondeni Royals v Ndiitwani Shooting Stars
13:00 ABC FC v Mahagala Young Stars
15:00 Ndiitwani Shooting Stars v Ramahantsha Blackpool
Sunday, 12 July – Tshifulanani Stadium (Group A):
07:00 Berea FC v Ntsemi FC
09:00 Maelula United Brothers v FC Basel
11:00 Ntsemi FC v Saudi FC
13:00 FC Basel v Berea FC
15:00 Saudi FC v Maelula United Brothers
Sunday, 12 July – Makhuvha Stadium (Group B):
07:00 Mukondeni Royals v ABC FC
09:00 Mahagala Young Stars v Ramahantsha Blackpool
11:00 ABC FC v Ndiitwani Shooting Stars
13:00 Ramahantsha Blackpool v Mukondeni Royals
15:00 Ndiitwani Shooting Stars v Mahagala Young Stars