A DIALOGUE between PSL chief executive Kjetil Siem and Ajax Cape Town management averted a potential dispute that could possibly have ended up in court.

Had Ajax pursued their case for Thulani Serero's inclusion in their Telkom Knockout final team, their match against Kaizer Chiefs at Kings Park Stadium, on Saturday night could probably not have taken place.

The agreement reached at the beginning of the season stipulates that no Bafana Bafana players were going to be eligible for cup football.

Among others Tlou Segolela and Serero were dropped from Bafana following the team's pre-World Cup camp in Brazil, a move which automatically made him available for the Urban Warriors' cup final battle against Chiefs

In spite of the agreement, though, the Cape side could have summarily exploited a loophole in an agreement between the South African Football Association (Safa) and the PSL and used Serero in Saturday's tie.

"The situation is that all players who were in Brazil could play in the Telkom final, particularly the one from Ajax Cape Town who will not travel with the national team to Germany," said Siem.

"It wasn't really a discussion we had with Ajax, but rather a dialogue from which an agreement was respected and honoured. It's a loophole they could have exploited but they, in the end they did not.

"It's difficult for to the PSL to tell our teams which player to field and who not to. But in the spirit of the agreement, it would not have been fair had they insisted on bringing on the player. PSL clubs are professional and I'm very grateful that Ajax chose to respect the agreement.

"Yes, you can call it a loophole in the agreement that was created by the way the final fixture was structured and could have created some friction and even debate. But I'm happy the tournament went smoothly."

Ajax, who lost the match 2-1, would probably have succeeded had they taken the matter further, since the agreement seemingly did not make provision for players who are dropped for the Germany camp.