North West Province will now have two teams in the PSL after Lerumo Lions FC secured Pretoria Callies’ Motsepe Foundation Championship status, FARPost has learnt.
Lions were competing in the North West ABC Motsepe League last season. The Sibongile Marokana-owned club finished in second place with 89 points, just nine points behind league winners Thames FC.
Interestingly, before the North West amateur league concluded, Lions lodged a complaint with SAFA against Thames FC for fielding an ineligible player.
Lions claimed that Isa Mangera had joined Thames, having not signed the medical form as per the league’s rules and regulations.
However, Thames managed to win the arbitration and qualified for the 2024/25 SAFA ABC Motsepe League National Playoffs.
As previously reported by FARPost, Callies allegedly turned down Cape Town Spurs’ R6 million bid to buy their NFD status.
In an interview with this website, Callies chairman Moses Malada stated that Spurs’ management tried to coerce him into selling his PSL status for R6 million to abandon their arbitration case.
This follows the Urban Warriors’ claim that Callies played an ineligible player, Sibusiso Khumalo, in a league match where Spurs finished the game with one man down, enduring a 2-1 loss.
The Cape club was relegated from the Motsepe Foundation Championship after finishing the 2024/25 season in 15th position with 30 points after 30 outings.
LERUMO LIONS SET TO COMPETE IN THE MOTSEPE FOUNDATION CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT SEASON
A source close to this publication confirmed that the deal between Lions and Callies was finalised today, 31 July 2025, pending the PSL’s approval.
In the last term, Callies finished in position 11 after accumulating 36 points from 30 matches.
According to the PSL’s fixture draft for the 2025/26 Motsepe Foundation Championship campaign, the league is set to commence on Friday, 22 August.
The North West province will be represented by the newly promoted Betway Premiership club Orbit College FC and Lions, who will be competing in South Africa’s second-tier.
RELATED STORY: Lerumo Lions to pursue appeal after Thames ruling