Durban-based businessman Roy Moodley has revealed his tough conditions for buying Royal AM football club before the deal collapsed, Sportswire reports .
For several months earlier this year, Royal AM was unable to honour its fixtures in the Betway Premiership and Nedbank Cup.
The South African Revenue Service SARS sought to auction the club as part of efforts to recoup an alleged tax debt allegedly owed by its then owner, Shauwn MaMkhize Mkhize.
Moodleys much-publicised attempt to buy the team in March fell through at the last minute. Officially, Royal AMs SARS-appointed curator, Jaco Venter, said a company linked to the businessman had failed to make the required payment on time, hence the sales cancellation .
Roy Moodley on why Royal AM deal collapsedHowever, Moodley told Sportswire on Thursday 10 July that he paid R50 million for Thwihli Thwahla but set three conditions to the Premier Soccer League PSL for concluding the deal.
"We gave three conditions to the PSL - one, they must extend the league so we can play the 19 games, he reportedly said.
The second one was, we buy on the condition that they must not relegate us, and the third one was, for the 19 games, if we don't play, they must give us draws.
Unsurprisingly, the PSL rejected these conditions, according to the businessman. The sale therefore fell through because if the club was relegated, its value would drop from R50 million to R5 million, he said.
"It was going to be like we are throwing the money down the drain," he explained.
In the end, the PSLs Board of Governors approved the Executive Committees recommendation to terminate Royal AMs PSL membership on 10 April.