Strike action on the cards as PSL drag feet

The South African Football Players Union are running out of patience with the lack of progress regarding the recognition of the organisation by the Premier Soccer League and are considering taking legal action or going on strike.

John Moeti, SuperSport United's captain and executive member of the union, said a lot of ground had been covered by the two organisations, but negotiations seem to have stalled after they appeared on the verge of signing a recognition agreement.

More than 70 percent of the registered players in the Premiership and the First Division are members of the union.

Moeti said there was also some confusion regarding the Andre Coetzee ruling which stipulates that a player should be free to join another club without any restriction once a contract with his club has expired.

"While there are clubs observing it, there are still those that are not adhering to the ruling."

A Cape Town High Court ruled in December last year that players shall be free to seek employment elsewhere at the end their contracts, thus nullifying the clause which forced clubs to seek transfer fees when players stated a wish to move.

Moeti said there were players who were out of contracts, but their clubs were refusing to grant them clearance certificates, demanding to be compensated instead.

Although reluctant to be seen to be declaring war on the league, Moeti expressed disappointment that after reaching agreements on pertinent issues affecting the players, the PSL did not seem interested in pursuing negotiations.

"We will be meeting soon to discuss matters affecting us as players," added Moeti. "And among issues we will be discussing is an ultimatum which says that unless the PSL are prepared to finalise this matter, we shall be forced to seek redress from the courts of the land."

Moeti said he hoped the union would not be forced to go that route and that perhaps now that the PSL had won the relegation arbitration against Bloemfontein Celtic and African Wanderers, who threatened to seek court interdicts objecting to their relegation, they would now concentrate on finalising the union recognition issue.

PSL CEO Robin Petersen was unavailable for comment last night as he was said to be attending a Board of Governors seminar and was also due to meet Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour to discuss Sunday's abandoned league match between Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town.