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Wealthy Mpisane family believed to be close to finalising the purchase of Free State Stars

Members of the wealthy Mpisane family in Durban are believed to be in the final stages of a multimillion rand deal that could see them complete the purchase of the status of Premier Soccer League (PSL) club Free State Stars.

Insiders told Times Media Digital on Tuesday that Sbu and Shawn Mpisane‚ who already own lower tier side Royal Eagles‚ are on the verge of completing a purchase that could see Stars relocating to KwaZulu-Natal.

Approached for comment on the matter‚ Stars general manager Rantsi Mokoena said the club is not for sale and insisted that they are not talking to the Mpisane family.

“The last people who have spoken to us with a view of trying to buy the club was (Gauteng Education MEC) Panyaza Lesufi and that was last year‚" Mokoena said on Tuesday.

"I have never spoken to anyone regarding the buying of the club and I am currently working on player movements in preparation for next season.

"We are not selling this club and one of the things that we are going to do in the coming days is to have a proper review of the season which includes whether the coach will be staying or not.

"His contract has come to an end but we have an option to extend.”

Attempts to get comment from the Mpisane family on Tuesday were not successful.

It's not the first time that rumours of a possible purchase have swirled above Stars as a year ago a consortium led by Lesufi came close to buying the club.

But the deal unravelled in the final stages after Lesufi's consortium could not meet some of the stringent conditions of the sale set by the National Soccer League.

The Free State club struggled for the better part of the season after the failed sale and escaped relegation on goal difference on the last day of the campaign last weekend.

Stars finished third from the bottom with 28 points‚ the same with Baroka FC‚ who qualified for the play-offs on 15th place‚ and Chippa United who ended fourth from the bottom.

Last season‚ Eagles finished fourth on the log in the national first division with 48 points and they agonisingly missed out on a place in the promotion play-offs by just one point.

They lost out to Stellenbosch FC‚ who finished third.

The couple bought the status of Sivutsa FC from Mpumalanga in 2014 in the NFD and moved the club to KwaZulu-Natal.

They have so far failed to gain promotion to the topflight despite reportedly paying salaries comparable to PSL sides.

They are believed to have had enough of life in the lower tier and their possible purchase of Stars could accelerate their desire to own a PSL club. - TMG Digital/TMG Sport

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