Cape Town Spurs drops High Court application, accepts relegation

In a surprising turn, Cape Town Spurs have pulled their High Court application against Durban City FC, bringing an unexpected twist to the long-running dispute that clouded the close of the Motsepe Foundation Championship season.

This decision ends Spurs’ bid to challenge Durban City’s promotion to the Betway Premiership and confirms their relegation to the ABC Motsepe League.

The legal saga began when Spurs played their final match of the season against Durban City under protest. They argued that Durban City’s midfielder, Saziso Magawana, was improperly registered. Durban City won that crucial match 1-0, securing automatic promotion, a victory that led the PSL to initially delay the trophy handover pending the resolution of the protest.

Spurs’ initial challenge was dismissed by the PSL’s Dispute Resolution Chamber. The chamber not only rejected Spurs’ appeal but also ordered them to cover the associated costs. Following this setback, the Cape Town-based club escalated the matter to SAFA arbitration.

The SAFA arbitration process saw several arbitrators recuse themselves before Hilton Epstein SC ultimately ruled in favour of Durban City and Saziso Magawana. With this ruling, Durban City was subsequently handed the NFD trophy at the SuperSport TV studios over a week ago.

In a final attempt to overturn Durban City’s promotion and avoid relegation themselves, Spurs filed an urgent application in the Gauteng High Court. They had been hoping that Durban City would be docked points, a penalty that would have saved Spurs from dropping to the third tier of South African football.

This strategy was largely based on the belief that the Farook Kadodia-owned team would face a significant penalty.

However, in a surprising turn of events, a document seen by Pan-Africa Football confirms that Cape Town Spurs has now decided to drop this court application. This signals their acceptance of their fate and confirms their participation in the ABC Motsepe League next season.