Following a high-profile court case between Mamelodi Sundowns and their former coach Pitso Mosimane, a legal expert has explained why the lawsuit was not first ventilated in the Premier Soccer League's Dispute Resolution Chamber.
Sundowns are suing Mosimane and his representative company Moira Tlhagale Sports Marketing and Management for breach of contract, demanding a refund of a portion of the R8,6 million paid upfront in agency fees.
The club took their contractual grievance against the coach and MT Sports straight to the High Court, instead of firstly approaching the PSL's DRC, which is normally the case for local disputes.
READ | What's on Pitso's radar…
FIFA and, as a consequence of adopting their regulations, the PSL frown upon member clubs taking football matters to court, hence the question marks on why Masandawana's claims could not first be heard at the PSL DRC.
Lesedi Mphahlele, Attorney and Director at Fairbridges Wertheim Becker Attorneys, is of the opinion that Sundowns took the matter to the High Court because it was mainly a contractual issue.
"You must remember, coaches, just like players, don't enter into employment contracts with their clubs, they enter into contracts of work," Mphahlele told KickOff in an exclusive interview.
"There is a difference between an employment contract and a contract of work."
There were suggestions that because Mosimane joined a club out of the country, in Al Ahly, the main point of contention of an alleged breach of contract, perhaps the PSL did not have jurisdiction on the matter.
However, Mphahlele clarified that the fact Mosimane was employed by the Egyptian giants after leaving Sundowns was neither here nor there, in The Brazilians deciding to go to the DRC or straight to court.
"No, the issue here is, that point of contention is a contractual one, that's why they went to court," he explained.
"There is nothing stopping Sundowns from going to court. There is no law that says they must go to [PSL] DRC first.
"So, that's an option, but you're not forced, you can go to court."