End of the road Royal AM Shauwn Mkhize's Royal AM will be kicked out of the Betway Premiership on Thursday if the PSL's board of directors endorse the recommendation by the PSL executive. Photo: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
The Premier Soccer League’s board of directors meet in Sandton on Thursday, and one of the things on the agenda is Royal AM’s status in the Betway Premiership.
If the board endorse last week’s recommendation from the PSL’s executive, then embattled KwaZulu-Natal club Royal AM will be booted from the league, bringing an end to one of the most controversial periods in modern South African football.
What began as an ambitious yet controversial venture spiralled into a saga of legal battles, financial mismanagement, and questionable decisions that have embarrassed the local game.
Royal AM made a mockery of the local game ever since Shauwn Mkhize bought the club for her then teenage son Andile Mpisane, who at the age of 19 became the youngest chairman of a professional club.
Who can forget the 2020/21 campaign, when the club took the PSL to court after failing to gain automatic promotion to the top-flight? After their bid to gain promotion via the courts failed, Mkhize simply opened her wallet and purchased the status of the beloved Bloemfontein Celtic.
And when her team were finally in the top-flight, the controversies didn’t stop there. Eyebrows were raised when she handed out cash bonuses to her players on the field after a game. Or, what about when the club refused to pay Samir Nurkovic and Ricardo Nascimento the monies they were owed when they were contracted to the club?
And then, when you thought they couldn’t make a bigger mockery of the game, they started fielding Mpisane, who fashioned himself as “Expensive 10”. Mpisane was clearly out of his depth, and the team felt it whenever he was on the field.
A game where this was clearly evident was their Betway Premiership clash against Kaizer Chiefs at the Peter Mokaba Stadium. In the first half, Thwihli Thwahla were overrun in midfield with Ox Mthethwa, who Mpissane was supposed to keep an eye on, having a whale of a time.
Chiefs ended the half 2-0 up. But after Mpisane was taken off at the break, Royal AM started to play with a bit more purpose and they were eventually able to pull two goals back and earn a credible 2-2 draw.
After a failed attempt to get the club under new ownership, the club is set to be axed, and the league now finds itself in a place where they will have to finish the season with just 15 teams, which will present another headache as the remaining clubs jostle for places.
Royal AM’s looming expulsion is not just a necessary move — it’s long overdue. For too long, the club treated the league like a personal playground, undermining the standards of professionalism and sporting integrity the PSL claims to uphold.
If the board follows through, it won’t just be closing a chaotic chapter — it will be reclaiming the dignity of South African football.
IOL Sport
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
** JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Send us an email with your comments, thoughts or responses to iolletters@inl.co.za. Letters should be a maximum of 500 words, and may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Submissions should include a contact number and physical address (not for publication).
