Royal AM fixtures suspended

Royal AM have had their fixtures suspended after the club failed to guarantee they would be able to continue their obligations in the current Premier Soccer League season, the league announced on Wednesday.

It puts into doubt the continued participation of the club in the league this season

The PSL said Thursday’s Betway Premiership match against Orlando Pirates had been cancelled and the rest of the club’s fixtures suspended

The league said it had been promised guarantees that Royal AM would be able to continue playing after owner Shawn Mkhize had her affairs sequestrated in a bid by the South African Revenue Service to recoup a debt, reported to be around R40-million.

A curator has been appointed to take charge of Mkhize’s affairs, including the running of the club.

Royal AM players have not trained since the start of the month, although club officials did claim that they had been paid outstanding wages after their scheduled league game against Chippa United on 9 January was called off.

“The Executive Committee has since convened three separate meetings seeking the assurance that the club, under curatorship, will be able to meet its fixture commitments in a compliant fashion,” said a statement.

The PSL said that they had been promised last Friday that “a joint letter of comfort from club management and the curator” would be provided confirming that the issues that led to Royal AM being unable to meet its commitments had been resolved.

“No such letter of comfort has been forthcoming,” added the PSL statement.

This has meant the cancellation of Thursday’s fixture at the Harry Gwala Stadium.

All other Royal AM fixtures (Betway Premiership and Nedbank Cup) have been suspended until further notice, the league added.

“The executive committee will meet again on Friday to afford Royal AM (under curatorship) to make representations regarding this matter,” the statement concluded.