Richards Bay FC chairman Jomo Biyela has provided the latest update regarding the transfer ban imposed on the club by FIFA in April this year.
Biyela was speaking to the journalists on Wednesday afternoon after his club defeated Baroka FC 4-0 to successfully retain the DStv Premiership status.
The Natal Rich Boyz were slapped with a transfer ban by the world’s football mother body after the club couldn’t pay the Kenyan winger Ovella Ochieng.
He only spent six months with the club before he was offloaded at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Biyela has confirmed that they have paid off R230 000, which was owed to the player. The transfer ban has been lifted, allowing the club to enter the market come July-August transfer window.
Richards Bay have already completed two signings – Fezile Gcaba and Sbani Khumalo from Mkhumbane Classic FC, the KZN ABC Motsepe League side.
NEW INFORMATION REGARDING THE RICHARDS BAY TRANSFER BAN
“No, we have sorted it out; it was not even a ban like [owing] millions like other teams,” he said. “It was R230 000, so we will be able to sign players.”
Meanwhile, with several clubs in the PSL having faced a similar issue, Biyela has blamed it on players, who initially agree on terms when negotiating exits but later resort to FIFA for resolutions.
“I think the reality is that there are players who are not honest,” he added.
“Also with us chairmans or administrators. I don’t want to be seen as a person who’s xenophobic but we don’t have this problem with local players.
“That’s because we are able to sit with a local player and negotiate the exit.
“So, you come here and you fail to play, out of 20 games you play two. Then we sit down with you and say, ‘it’s not going as expected, let’s give you six months’.
“Sometimes they sign, the moment they sign, they send it to FIFA. I want to blame it on players but it’s a lesson also to us. As much as we listen to you [scouts] that there’s a good player to sign but we must make it a point that we are convinced that we sign someone who can assist us.
“That’s where the problem is: you sign someone, and when they’re here, you can see they won’t help you.
“But you have signed them.”
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