Cape Town Spurs issues an official statement regarding its players Asanele Velebayi and Luke Baartman!A protracted and bitter legal dispute that has gripped South African football has reached its conc...
Cape Town Spurs issues an official statement regarding its players Asanele Velebayi and Luke Baartman!
A protracted and bitter legal dispute that has gripped South African football has reached its conclusion, with an arbitration ruling finally opening the door for Asanele Velebayi and Luke Baartman to be registered as Kaizer Chiefs players.
The saga began when the attacking duo, previously with the now-relegated Cape Town Spurs, were signed as free agents by the Soweto giants. This move was fiercely contested by their former club, which launched a determined legal challenge. While an initial ruling from the PSL Dispute Resolution Chamber had declared the players' contracts invalid, Spurs' subsequent appeal successfully stalled their registration with Amakhosi.
The decisive turn came on October 8th, when Advocate Hilton Epstein SC delivered an arbitration award that ultimately gave Kaizer Chiefs the green light to finalize the signings. In a formal statement, Cape Town Spurs acknowledged the ruling, yet their tone was one of profound disappointment rather than concession.
The club’s CEO, Alexi Efstathiou, framed the outcome as a significant threat to the very model of youth development. “For 30 years, our academy has been our proudest legacy,” he stated, emphasizing that the club had invested “not just funds, but passion, time, and a philosophy into developing young players into professionals and upstanding individuals.”
He further expressed deep concern about an environment where “the fundamental contract tying a developed player to the club can be so easily dissolved by circumstances.”
Despite accepting the verdict, Spurs' battle appears far from over. The club has now shifted its focus to pursuing financial redress, declaring that its immediate priority is to determine the “compensation that may be due to the Club for the significant investment we have made in these players’ careers.” For the Urban Warriors, the viability of their famed academy and the club's very future now hinges on this next phase of the struggle.
Category: General Sports
