Cape Town City boss John Comitis remains confident that he will win the case against the PSL who are against the FNB sponsorship he acquired during the off season.
City acquired the giant financial institution as shirt sponsor during the off season, but the PSL said they cannot display FNB in their jersey since they have not gained the approval from the league.
The PSL’s argument to City is the FNB sponsorship is in conflict of interest to one of the league’s biggest sponsors, Nedbank, who sponsors the Nedbank Cup.
The City boss, who announced the FNB sponsorship on 1 August, saw his side almost not play an opening league match of the season against Mamelodi Sundowns, with the PSL confirming that they are yet to approve the sponsorship to be displayed on the jersey, hours before the match.
That left Comitis baffled, who says he did nothing wrong in acquiring the FNB sponsorship. He added that even though they are at the loggerheads with the league, the giant financial institution is not leaving.
City has continued to display FNB in their shirts after they were granted by the court.
“We fully complied as far as we were concerned,” said Comitis to the iDiski Times.
“There’s no reason for the approval not to come through. We are now waiting for the final decision from the EXCO, bearing in mind that we have a directive by the court. At this stage we are entitled to have a sponsorship on our shirt.”
Comitis has also been fined by PSL prosecutor Zola Majavu who slapped a R50,000 fine on his club, “half of which is suspended for 24 months on condition that during that period they are not found guilty of the same offence.”
This is not the first time Comitis has been at the loggerheads when it comes to sponsorships. Previously he acquired Sportpesa, a betting company, but the PSL doesn’t want betting companies to be associated with the league because it may lead to match fixing.
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However, that matter went to court, coming in favour of City, leaving the league embarrassed and Comitis states he has no doubt the FNB matter will come also in his favour.
“Respectfully to the PSL, I thought they handled this completely incorrectly,” said Comitis.
“I’m part of the executive of the league and I have to look after the best interest of the clubs and its shareholders. The way this was handled, they went directly to litigation, they never gave me an opportunity to present my case. I could have sorted this thing out in one hour.
“It has now dragged on for two months and it is disappointing to the large extent. To be honest, if you are not a strong club and you don’t have a relationship with your sponsor, many would have walked away from the situation and that is a tragedy for the future of our clubs.”
Story by Robin-Duke Madlala (@duke_robin).
