Samir Nurkovic and his legal team have made a tactical change in their fight to get the R15-million owed to the Serbian and former Kaizer Chiefs striker by Royal AM.
Nurkovic and his Croatia-based lawyer Davor Lazić are now pointing their rifles at the PSL and Safa, saying that they want the two organisations to take on the financial responsibility.
They say that failure to do so, they will report the matter back to Fifa.
Nurkovic is involved in a legal battle to recover the money owed to him by Royal AM, the former PSL club that is owned by eccentric businesswoman Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize. The club’s membership of the PSL was terminated after it failed to honour league matches.
Royal AM had prematurely terminated Nurkovic’s contract, and the Serbian took the club to the dispute resolution chamber of the Fifa Tribunal that ruled in his favour.
Fifa then ordered the KZN club to pay Nurkovic R15-million according to the employment agreement. They also enforced a transfer ban on the club, which prevented the outfit to sign new players.
On Monday, Nurkovic’s legal team wrote to the league and the national association proclaiming that “based on principles of fairness and integrity, the league should now recover or reclaim the monthly grant funds and any other financial benefits previously allocated to the club, and redirect those resources to satisfy the player’s legitimate and binding claim”.
In essence, they want the monthly grant, which was supposed to be paid to the club by the league, to be paid directly to Nurkovic.
In the three-year contract, the club undertook to pay Nurkovic R420 000 gross as monthly remuneration for the term between July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023; R440 000 for the term between July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 and R460 000 between July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
The club is still under curatorship of the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and was put up for auction two months ago. There were no serious bids. The tax authorities are trying to recoup some of the money that Mkhize is alleged to owe Sars, which is reported to be about R40-million.
However, this (the club’s) expulsion does not absolve the league or Safa from their duty to enforce the player’s (Nurkovic) rights, especially those grounded in final and binding decisions from international bodies like the Fifa Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), said Lazić.
“Therefore, we have filed a formal request to the Professional Soccer League to act in accordance with the decisions of both Fifa DRC and CAS,” said Lazić.
The Croatian international sports lawyer further states, “Continued failure to enforce Fifa and CAS decisions may invite scrutiny and sanctions from Fifa. It also undermines confidence in South Africa as a fair and safe destination for foreign professionals. Essentially, it creates a hostile environment and signals that international rulings won’t be respected here.
“Unfortunately, Safa has taken no independent steps to protect the player’s rights. As a final warning, we will report this non-compliance to Fifa, of both the league’s and Safa’s disregard for Fifa and CAS decisions.”
Said Safa in a response: “The award of Fifa is very clear as to who must do what. Safa has nothing to do with the matter. Safa deals with amateur football, and professional matters don’t fall under Safa. It is not the first case of this kind as when Moroka Swallows was relegated, the association was never ordered to carry its liabilities.” PSL acting CEO Mato Madlala declined to comment.
