FARPost can reveal that (South Africa) Royal AM soccer players officially resumed training on Wednesday following a meeting between the players and management.
As it has been widely reported, the club recently faced challenges after failing to pay players their December salaries.
The football club is under curatorship appointed by the South African Revenue Services (Sars) to recoup a tax debt linked to the president of the club Shauwn Mkhize. A series of raids were conducted by Sars officials and police on properties linked to Mkhize in November 2023.
This means that Sars has the authority to manage the financial affairs of Royal AM. The move comes amid ongoing investigations into alleged tax evasion by club president โMamMkhizeโ.
Sars alleges that Mkhize owes the revenue service approximately R40 million in unpaid taxes. As a result, the SA Revenue Services are overseeing Royal AMโs finances. This is to ensue the protection of club assets while the tax evasion allegations are investigated.
Royal AM were scheduled to play a Betway Premiership fixture against Chippa United on 11 January. But the match was postponed as the players had not yet returned for training due to the clubโs financial challenges.
In a statement released by the club last week, Shauwn Mkhize assured the football fraternity that the club would sort out the issues as swiftly as possible.
โWe want to assure all stakeholders that Royal AM remains committed to resolving this matter as swiftly as possible,โ reads the club statement.
โThe clubโs management team, led by our CEO and general manager, has been working diligently with the curator to secure the necessary permissions to release funds for salary payments.โ
FARPost gathered that the club has finally paid the players their December salaries.
There had been fears that the club could miss their match against Orlando Pirates scheduled for 23 of this month.
This publication can further reveal that the players met with the club management and the technical members to discuss the way forward of the club.
They were reportedly assured that the club was working overnight to sort out issues and they should focus on football. (Farpost.co.za)