Denemek ALTIN - Özgür

Royal AM saga: everyone loses, but the biggest casualty is the PSL

Saturday Star

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April 12, 2025

THE Royal AM saga has been a bruising chapter in South African football — a mix of mismanagement, financial scandal, and embarrassing headlines.

- SMISO MSOMI

While Royal AM itself has crum-bled and the South African Revenue Services (SARS) has fought to recoup millions in unpaid taxes, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the biggest loser.

The league's reputation, integrity, and ability to enforce its own rules have all been severely undermined.

Royal AM’s downward spiral was clear for months.

After Sars placed the club under curatorship due to a R40 million tax debt, things rapidly deteriorated.

Players went unpaid, training halted, and they failed to honour fix-tures after December 2024.

Furthermore, the club was hit with two Fifa transfer bans and in November, they were booted out of the DStv Diski Challenge for failing to field a team.

Despite all of this, the PSL dragged its feet — only officially expelling the club after they'd managed to play just 11 games.

Saturday Star'den DAHA FAZLA HİKAYE

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