The PSL has thrown the rule book at Cape Town City after charging them for signing and bringing their new sponsor, FNB, without getting approval from the league.
PSL prosecutor Zola Majavu announced on Tuesday night that the Citizens will face a disciplinary hearing on Monday next week.
Majavu has also charged Swallows FC for delaying the start of their 3-2 DStv Premiership win against City at Dobsonville Stadium on August 9 and for amending their team sheet without notifying the opposition and match officials.
City boss John Comitis has seemingly infuriated the PSL head honchos who said bringing the FNB sponsorship into the fray amounts to a conflict of interest because the league has a partnership with Nedbank who are the sponsors of the Nedbank Cup tournament.
A few years ago, Swallows FC clinched a deal with telecoms giant Telkom but the partnership was rejected by the PSL.
“Cape Town City are charged for failure to obtain prior approval from the PSL executive committee in accordance with the compliance manual before the conclusion of a new or an amended sponsorship agreement with a particular bank,” said Majavu.
“In accordance with the rules, they ought to have sought and obtained approval before concluding the agreement. In this instance, the allegation against them is that they did it the other way around. City will appear before the DC [disciplinary committee] on Monday at 6.30pm.”
A PSL insider told Sunday World that the move by City is ambush marketing.
“We have Nedbank as sponsors of one of our cup competitions and City’s sponsor is sneaking into their territory,” shared the insider.
“All the clubs have a compliance manual and they must send a request to the league 14 days before they can sign, and then the PSL executive committee will approve or reject.
“What City did was that they signed and then sent a request, that’s why there is this mess. As a league, we need to protect our partners and their investment.”
City previously explained that they are expecting a decent attitude to resolve the matter.
“If we want a competitive league, clubs must have sponsors and financial support. A lot of clubs are folding because they do not have the sponsors,” said Comitis.
“We have lost Bloemfontein Celtic, Ajax Cape Town, Bidvest Wits, now Free State Stars and almost the same with Swallows FC because of a lack of sponsors. I hope that we can resolve this matter with the league this coming week, and that they will show me what I did was wrong or whether I stepped onto someone’s toes.
“Everything must be done with respect because I am one of the 32 club owners.”
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