Santos FC have won their appeal after being expelled from the ABC Motsepe League in November. The club’s chairman, Goolam Allie, has said he sees the outcome not as a personal victory, but as a win for football itself, saying the sport is a national asset that must be protected for future generations to benefit.
Once kings of the Premier Soccer League, Santos were recently booted from the ABC Motsepe League after clashing with administrators over financial issues.
Known as the ‘People’s Team,’ they received official communication of the expulsion from SAFA Cape Town on Monday, 3 November, following a legal battle over their participation in the Nedbank Cup playoffs due to outstanding financial obligations.
The matter was taken to court and later referred to arbitration, but before a final verdict was reached, Santos were bizarrely informed they had been expelled.
VICTORY CONFIRMED TO RECLAIM SANTOS’ PLACE IN THE ABC MOTSEPE
Now, Santos have secured victory, with chairman Allie confirming the club will be reinstated in the ABC Motsepe League.
“To be honest, it is not something where I feel I have won something,” Allie told FARPost. “I am just pleased that I could do something in the interest of football.
“You must remember, football is a national asset. If we are going to destroy a national asset like that, in the manner it is getting destroyed by administrators, our future generations will never be able to capitalise on the economic benefits of a good sporting nation,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the ABC Motsepe League is already in motion, with three matches down, and Allie is confident Santos’ comeback will turn it from a 24 into a 25-team showdown.
Last season, Santos finished fourth, while Zizwe United and Hanover Park topped streams A and B, respectively.
At the end of the season, the provincial champions will meet for the ABC Motsepe National Playoffs, with the two finalists securing promotion to the Motsepe Foundation Championship. Last season, those spots were claimed by Gomora United from Gauteng and The Bees from Mpumalanga.
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