Cape Town City boss John Comitis charged with bringing Premier Soccer League into disrepute

Cape Town City owner John Comitis has been charged by the Premier Soccer League (PSL) for allegedly bringing the organisation into disrepute, the league confirmed through its prosecutor, Zola Majavu. He will now appear before the disciplinary committee (DC).  

“John Comitis will appear before the DC this Friday, 29 April, to answer charges of bringing the league into disrepute based on some media utterances attributable to him – which he has subsequently confirmed as being true and accurate,” Majavu said.

The Cape Town club is one of the two teams (along with Golden Arrows) that Kaizer Chiefs were supposed to play against in December 2021. The Soweto club opted against honouring those fixtures as it fought a Covid-19 outbreak at its headquarters.   

With a decision taken in 2020 that Covid-19 would not result in PSL matches being called off, Comitis was vocal about his displeasure at the ruling by South African Football Association-appointed arbitrator Nazeer Cassim SC’s that Amakhosi be allowed to play two of their missed DStv Premiership matches.

Speaking on sportscaster Robert Marawa’s podcast, Marawa Sports Worldwide, following the ruling in March, Comitis called the decision a “dark day in South African football”.

The PSL is challenging Cassim’s arbitration ruling in the Gauteng High Court. The league’s review application is enrolled for hearing on 10 May. Despite this, in a recent circular the league stated that it would allow Chiefs to replay the two games in the intervening period. They would face Arrows on 27 April and City on 30 April.

The PSL said the results of the games will come into effect following the outcome of the high court review process. The Cape club then released a statement saying it was against playing the match:

“The insinuations that we are party to or part of this decision is untrue. We categorically do not agree to this process and have responded in writing to the league and the parties on two occasions now, reserving our rights as a club to defend our position in this matter.”

City are scheduled to face Premiership champions-elect Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday, 27 April in Tshwane. It is unclear whether they will stay in Gauteng after that, with their match against Chiefs set to take place at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. DM

 

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