MaMkhize seeks arbitration over R12m 'owed' to Nurkovic

Royal AM lawyer Leruma Thobejane is adamant that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will render the transfer ban Fifa imposed on the club invalid.

“I can tell you, cases are there to be won and cases are there to be lost, but I am 100% positive that we’ve done everything correct in law [to have] the ban to be lifted. I am 100% positive,” Thobejane told Sowetan yesterday.

“A lot of commentators are saying nobody challenges Fifa and wins, so MaMkhize (Shauwn Mkhize, Royal’s owner) must just pay the R12m. I am sorry it doesn’t work that way. If you’ve failed to challenge Fifa and win previously, that doesn’t mean we must just bow to this kind of suppression... you can’t just bully me into paying Nurkovic R12m without due process.”

Early this week, Fifa handed Royal a transfer ban with immediate effect. This after after the Durban-based side couldn’t settle a R12m outstanding payment to striker Samir Nurkovic, whose contract was “unlawfully” terminated last year.

Thwihli Thwahla signed the Serbian striker as a free-agent in July last year after he left Kaizer Chiefs. Royal then decided to terminate Nurkovic’s contract three months later, having given him a two-year deal.

The club claimed the Serb had never pitched for work. Through his lawyer, Davor Lazic, Nurkovic took the matter to Fifa, which has since sanctioned Royal by imposing a transfer ban that would be lifted as soon as they pay the ex-Chiefs man.

Speaking to Sowetan yesterday, Lazic sounded convinced that Royal had no case at all, insisting they missed all the Fifa deadlines to appeal, hence CAS won’t do anything now.

“Fifa’s decision is final and binding, so there’s no way you can appeal now. Nurkovic’s contract was terminated unlawfully and now Royal must pay for that. I am not sure why Royal always mention that there are some discrepancies in the reception or delivery of the decision. They can’t appeal it because they missed all the deadlines,” Lazic asserted.

It is unclear how Fifa decided that the compensation figure be R12m and Lazic insisted he wasn’t at liberty to divulge more details on that, only saying “this is from the two-year contract he signed”.

In his counter response that they missed all the Fifa deadlines, Thobejane laid the blame on Fifa.

“From the 1st of May this year, all cases at Fifa are now handled through a portal. Previously, a club would be notified of any claim lodged against its mother association, meaning in this case through Safa,” Thobejane said.

“The [portal] system shall generate an automatic email if there’s any notification on the portal and upon that email being generated, you must immediately open the portal and view the update on your case.

"In this case, an email was automatically generated to us on behalf of Royal on the 22nd of May. Then on the 25th of May, which is three days from notification, we uploaded our request for a motivated award. Fifa then told us on the 3rd of June that there was a technical glitch hence we didn't receive the email on time [on May 19].”