AmaZulu ordered to pay former coach Jozef Vukusic or face Fifa ban

This follows a recent ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport [Cas] instructing Usuthu to pay the Serbian mentor after dismissing him “without just cause” three years ago, albeit under the ownership of then chairman Patrick Sokhela. 

Vukusic was initially placed on “special leave” and later fired, but took the matter to world governing body Fifa, seeking damages because he was sacked three months into a three-year contract at the time. 

Sokhela subsequently sold the club to Sandile Zungu, but the Vukusic case has not gone away despite claims by the businessman and the previous owners it had been “resolved” with a settlement due to their ex-employee.

Now, two years later, SABC Sport has had it confirmed by the coach’s lawyer that Cas has since ruled in their favour following an appeal. 

“The matter was with Cas and they have made an order in the coach's favour. AmaZulu is now required to pay the coach damages for the termination without just cause," Kabelo Mashigo explained.

"At this stage we are waiting for the club to pay the money, failing which we will have to refer it to Fifa for a ban and NSL [the Premier Soccer League’s trading name] for a deduction from the grant [topflight clubs get R2-million a month]."

He added that Usuthu have asked to reimburse the coach in installments to avoid a devastating sanction that could be delivered by the world governing body.

It’s emerged that the settlement figure agreed to initially was contested by Vukusic and his legal representatives two years ago. 

“They [AmaZulu] have sent a request to have the amount paid in installments and the coach is considering the proposal, but remember the enforcement only comes once a request is made to Fifa or the NSL," the lawyer elaborated. 

"The Cas one [order] was an appeal of the Fifa ruling – we were not satisfied with the outcome at Fifa, so we had to appeal and Cas ruled in our favour for a bigger compensation amount."

Usuthu was previously docked six points in 2018 by the Fifa disciplinary committee, when they failed to compensate Namibian player Phineas Nambadi for unlawfully terminating his contract.