Black Leopards’ legal crusade to salvage their Motsepe Foundation Championship status has suffered a crushing blow in the Johannesburg High Court.
As FARPost reported earlier this week, Lidoda Duvha turned to the courts to overturn a South African Football Association [SAFA] arbitration ruling that dismissed their application to replay four crucial league fixtures.
The Limpopo-based outfit has been locked in a bitter dispute regarding the opening four matches of the 2025/26 campaign. Leopards contended that the Premier Soccer League [PSL] erred regarding an alleged FIFA transfer ban at the start of last season.
THE ROOT OF THE BLACK LEOAPRDS REGISTRATION DISPUTE
According to the club, the PSL initially issued player registration cards for their new signings before abruptly revoking them, citing the aforementioned FIFA sanction. During that affected stretch, Leopards registered two draws and two defeats.
Crucially, two of those encounters—against University of Pretoria and Lerumo Lions—were played under protest after the club failed to field the mandatory quota of Under-23 players, subsequently leading to a forfeiture of points.
Having seen their challenge thrown out by the PSL, Leopards suffered a secondary setback when SAFA arbitration similarly dismissed the matter.
HIGH COURT RULING LEAVES LEOPARDS IN SAFA ABC MOTSEPE LEAGUE
As FARPost revealed on Monday, Leopards escalated the matter to the Johannesburg High Court, appearing on Tuesday, 28 July 2026. However, the court struck the urgent application off the roll due to a lack of urgency.
This publication can further reveal that the High Court opted not to hear the matter because Leopards simultaneously approached the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] in Lausanne, Switzerland, prompting the local courts to defer to the international tribunal.
With CAS arbitration proceedings historically taking months to finalise, Leopards’ demotion to the SAFA ABC Motsepe League is now effectively sealed. The Thohoyandou-based side concluded the Motsepe Foundation Championship season in 15th position, suffering automatic relegation alongside bottom-placed Baroka FC.
RELATED STORY: Black Leopards take PSL and SAFA battle to court
