Kaizer Chiefs have been dealt a major blow heading into the rest of the 2020/2021 campaign with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejecting their transfer ban appeal.
Kaizer Chiefs were handed a two-year transfer ban along with a fine after FIFA found discrepancies in the manner in which they secured the services of ex-player Andriamirado Andrianarimanana, who joined from Malagasy outfit Fosa Juniors in 2018.
Any hope of overturning the ban at Kaizer Chiefs has now come to an abrupt halt after CAS revealed that their appeal was unsuccessful and the ban remains intact.
CAS reject Kaizer Chiefs’ appeal
The Court of Arbitration for Sport released a statement on Tuesday afternoon regarding their decision on the matter involving Kaizer Chiefs, Fifa and Fosa Juniors and it’s not good news for the Amakhosi. The CAS statement read:
“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision in the appeal filed by the Malagasy player Andriamirado Aro Hasina Andrianamimanana (the Player) and the South African club Kaizer Chiefs FC (collectively, the Appellants), against the decision rendered by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) on 5 December 2019 (the Challenged Decision).”
“In such decision, the FIFA DRC noted that the Player and Kaizer Chiefs entered into a new contract when the Player was still under contract with Fosa Juniors FC/Madagascar. Given these circumstances, the FIFA DRC concluded that the Player unilaterally terminated the Employment Contract with Fosa Juniors FC without just cause.
“As a consequence, the Player was ordered, together with Kaizer Chiefs FC, to jointly and severally pay a compensation of MGA 157’572’000 (approx. USD 40’000) to Fosa Juniors FC. In addition, a four-month period of ineligibility was imposed on the Player, and Kaizer Chiefs FC was banned from registering any new players either nationally or internationally for two entire and consecutive registration periods.
“The CAS Panel in charge of this matter has dismissed the appeal and confirmed the Challenged Decision in its entirety.”
We’ll have to make use of what we have – Hunt
The news will come as an unpleasant surprise to Kaizer Chiefs fans across the globe however Gavin Hunt already expressed his preparation plans in light of the appeal being rejected over the weekend.
“Obviously if you look the market all the best players who were available for clubs to take have been taken. But there are still opportunities‚ if a situation arises.” Hunt told Sowetan.
“But‚ as I said‚ I just work on the basis that the appeal is not opening up‚ let’s just work with what we’ve got and try and make that better and harder to beat‚ and win games as well.”
Kaizer Chiefs will now have to go back to the drawing board and swiftly come up with a plan to utilize the players they currently have at their disposal while it remains to be seen whether the likes of Sifiso Hlanti and Nange will continue training at the club following CAS’s decision.
