Marumo Gallants chairman Abram Sello has responded to accusations that his club is refusing to pay players their CAF Confederation Cup bonuses from the 2022/23 season.
Apparently, the Premier Soccer League DRC has ruled in favour of the players and ordered the club to honour their agreement.
Gallants have since been relegated from the DStv Premiership and now compete in the second tier, which is the Motsepe Foundation Championship, where they are hoping to avoid relegation ahead of the last round of fixtures this weekend.
Contacted by KickOff about the matter, Sello chose to plead the fifth amendment.
"That's nonsense! I'm not going to talk about it as the case is still on because it is still a legal matter. I can't comment. If they comment, then it's their story," he charges, speaking to this publication.
READ: Why Shalulile 'offside goal' stood
"It's like... the issue is in court. How does one talk about an issue that is in court? We will talk when the case is done. For now, it's in court."
Bahlabane Ba Ntwa currently sit in position 13 on the log.
Player's union Fusa secretary-general Taelo Motloung accuses Sello of applying delaying tactics so that the club avoids paying the players in case they get relegated.
"When the club was competing in the CAF Confederation Cup, they got into an agreement with the players that whatever they are going to receive when they reached the semi-finals, the players would get 30% of the pay-out," Motloung explains to this website.
"That was the signed agreement. So, at the beginning of this season, three of their players came to our union Fusa about the matter.
"That is Abram Ngcobo, Lebohang Mabotja, and Lehlohonolo Nonyane. We got an order for Ngcobo at the DRC that the club must pay that money. It was the same thing with Nonyane.
"But the club decided to appeal the matter, they appealed at the SAFA Arbitration, and even now we are still waiting.
"While we were still there, another 11 players approached Fusa, and we took their matter to the DRC."
The matter sat on April 26, according to Motloung.
"What is strange is, when the DRC asked the club if they were challenging the agreement that they've signed with the players, they said no, they are accepting it because they do have an agreement of 30% with the players.
"Now their concern was that they didn't want the DRC to hear the matter, they said the DRC didn't have a jurisdiction. They want the matter to go to CAF or SAFA. That's what the club said.
"They didn't disagree with the argument that they owed the players. They were then asked if they had received the money from CAF, and they said yes.
"So whatever that they have received, they must give the players their 30% to share. They refused to say how much they got from CAF, but we know that it's USD750 000 (R13,8 million).
READ: Johnson issues blunt assessment of Chiefs' problems
"We are hoping the money will come earlier before they get relegated. So, even if they get relegated, we are not going to stop with this matter. Players must get what they deserve because the club did receive the money from CAF, long before they were relegated to the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
"So, they are delaying or trying to run away from paying the players. To us, these are delaying tactics because the settlement is already there, so what are we going to argue now?"
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
Click HERE to register!
