Following days of speculation that Free State Stars, a club founded in 1977 and evolved over the years, would meet its demise SABC Sport can confirm this to be true as the Mokoena family œtemporarily pulls back from football.

In a statement seen by the public broadcaster, CEO Rantsi Mokoena, details the reasons for relinquishing the second tier status of the team without revealing who the new owners will be after the Premier Soccer League ratified the sale.

Reports in the media have indicated that ABC Motsepe League outfit Casric FC have bought the franchise and will now play in the newly rebranded Motsepe Foundation Championship from next month.

œIt is with great regret and sadness that we have to announce the sale of the Free State Stars Participation Rights in the National First Division. It is well known that football does well in a booming and/or healthy economic environment. When the economy goes south the first people that feel it are business people, the statement reads.

The cost of running a club without a sponsor was slowly affecting the family™s other businesses given that they were now self-funding Stars - this after Bonitas, who were giving them a substantial amount believed to be in the region of R12-millin a season, pulled out during Ea Lla Koto™s time in the topflight several years ago.

œFootball club owners spend their own money to assist in running the club and in an unstable economic environment one has to evaluate one's ability to assist adequately in running the football club, the CEO explains.

œAt this point in time, we have taken a decision to temporarily step down and to give the rights to people who can sustain the running of a football club.

But also what is important is the appreciation and the role that government needs to play in assisting sporting bodies and realising the importance of sport within our societies to help us keep afloat.

SABC Sport understands there was barely any support from the local metro and this would have affected their bottom line.

œOne can quote Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal, if you look at what KZN is doing in terms of investing in football it is clear that the teams there are doing so well because of the government participation in supporting the clubs.

Rantsi Mokoena says his father™s contribution in football should not be forgotten even as they sell the club - Mike Mokoena passed on two years ago.

œFrom the onset we do not want people to limit the late Mr (Mike) Mokoena's legacy to just football. He was a business person who touched many different lives in many different spheres of life and his various businesses continue to do well and to run in this tough economic environment, the statement adds.

œWe want to reiterate that we will still continue to be in football in one way or another and that legacy will still continue, it is just that we will not be participating in the National First Division any more. This is obviously a setback for our supporters, our government, our local communities. This is a club with a rich history, but sometimes you have to take one step back just so that you can take ten steps forward.

More engagements with other stakeholders will be scheduled for later to detail the decision taken by the family to step back.

œIn due course we will explain our decision to all stakeholders be it government and supporters as to why we took this decision. At this stage we would like to wish the new owners well in their new endeavour. We further want to wish the players, technical team, management and supporting stuff well in their new work environment, the CEO concludes in what must have been difficult to put into words.

By: Mazola Molefe

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