Cape Town Spurs CEO Alexi Efstathiou has clarified the nature of the club’s business relationship with Kaizer Chiefs following a recent unfavorable arbitration ruling.
SAFA arbitrator Hilton Epstein recently dismissed an appeal by Spurs to overturn a PSL DRC decision in their dispute with their former players, Asanele Velebayi and Luke Baartman.
Velebayi and Baartman were declared free agents and cleared to be registered for Kaizer Chiefs.
Chiefs had signed the two players in the past transfer window as free agents after Spurs’ relegation to the SAFA ABC Motsepe League.
The players had not featured for Amakhosi due to the legal dispute with Spurs over their contractual status.
WHY CAPE TOWN SPURS BOSS WAS SURPRISED WITH HOW KAIZER CHIEFS OPERATED
Speaking on Metro FM on Wednesday evening, Efstathiou says the club had no problem in doing business with Chiefs.
“I am surprised with Kaizer Chiefs because I mean, as you know, last year we did a deal with Rushwin Dortley,” said Efstathiou.
ALEXI EFSTATHIOU EXPLAISN HOW THEY HAVE DONE BUSINESS WITH AMAKHOSI BEFORE
“Kaizer Jr [Motaung] was well within himself, phoned. We negotiated, we didn’t agree on certain things, and finally, we found a point where everyone was happy. So it’s not that we don’t do business with Kaizer Chiefs.
“There are just Kaizer Chiefs supporters always mourning about everything. So it’s not about that. Kaizer [Jr] and I dealt, and it was great. But to be honest, if I am Kaizer and someone told me, ‘Listen, you can get these two players for free’, what would I do? Then it’s up to Kaizer’s conscious if he wants to come and talk to us.”
“I mean, until today, Kaizer Chiefs have not spoken a word to us. So we don’t know what they are thinking. We don’t know anything. So when people say they came last year, yes, they did. I can also give you the numbers. We wanted R10 million for Asenele [Velebayi] and they offered R4 million. They offered us two players on loan, but we said no. We are not in the business of loaning players, and then they just went quiet. So that’s what happened.”
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