A PSL club owner has confirmed the lifting of the FIFA transfer ban ahead of the opening of the PSL transfer window next month.
The 2023/24 PSL season was officially wrapped on Wednesday afternoon when Richards Bay FC hammered Baroka FC 4-0 in the final match of the playoffs, cementing their top spot in the standings of the mini-league.
The Natal Rich Boyz successfully retained their DStv Premiership status with AmaTuks and Baroka falling short.
Speaking to the media after the match, the Richards Bay chairman Jomo Biyela revealed that the club would be able to enter the market ahead of the new season as the transfer ban has been lifted.
This is after the club paid off R230 000 that was owed to their former Kenyan winger Ovella Ochieng.
According to Biyela, the KwaZulu-Natal outfit has already made a couple of signings. This includes the two players – Fezile Gcaba and Sbani Khumalo they signed from the ABC Motsepe League club.
PSL CLUB OWNER ON TRANSFER BAN – ‘WE HAVE SORTED IT OUT’
“No, we have sorted it out, it was not even a ban like [owing] millions like other teams,” he said.
“It was R230 000, so we will be able to sign players.”
Now, with Richards Bay sorted, there are three PSL clubs with active transfer bans – TS Galaxy, Polokwane City and JDR Stars.
The Rockets were recently slapped by FIFA over an unpaid R1,8 million to their former player Bernard Yao Kouassi.
Biyela has attributed this recurring problem in the PSL to players who initially agree on terms when negotiating their departures from clubs, but subsequently turn to FIFA for resolution.
“I think the reality is that there are players who are not honest,” he added.
“Also with us chairmans or administrators. I don’t want to be seen as a person who’s xenophobic but we don’t have this problem with local players.
“That’s because we are able to sit with a local player and negotiate the exit.
“So, you come here and you fail to play, out of 20 games you play two. Then we sit down with you and say, ‘it’s not going as expected, let’s give you six months’.
“Sometimes they sign, the moment they sign, they send it to FIFA.
“I want to blame it on players but it’s a lesson also to us. As much as we listen to you [scouts] that there’s a good player to sign but we must make it a point that we are convinced that we sign someone who can assist us.
“That’s where the problem is, you sign someone and when they’re here you can see they won’t help you.
“But you have signed them.”
