Chippa United confirmed that its Absa Premiership encounter against Free State Stars scheduled for next Saturday will take place in East London as per the agreement they have with Buffalo City Metro.
But BCM is adamant it has long terminated the agreement it had with the club.
The metro entered into a six-match agreement with the Port Elizabeth-based PSL outfit at the start of the season.
Already two of those matches, one against Mamelodi Sundowns and the other versus Cape Town City, were played in Mdantsane’s Sisa Dukashe Stadium last year.
But in October last year, the BCM council resolved to terminate that agreement, saying the relationship was not mutually beneficial.
At the weekend the Saturday Dispatch reported that the matter of the metro’s sponsorship of Chippa’s games was deferred to a later date to allow space for clarifications of certain issues.
BCM executive mayor Xola Pakati yesterday confirmed that the council decision to cut ties with the Chilli Boys stood. “Council has pronounced on this matter and we have not engaged with Chippa United since then, so any decision by the club to come to the city is upon them but council terminated ,” said Pakati.
Asked if there was any attempt to revive the agreement, Pakati said “we have no mandate to do so”.
However, club boss Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi said as far as the club was concerned, it had a standing agreement with BCM to bring six games to the city this season.
Mpengesi said they would host Ea Lla Koto at the NU2 venue next Saturday and said they would also bring Ajax Cape Town and SuperSport United to the city as well.
“The issue about the talked about termination, we have only learnt about it in the media because no communication to that effect has been communicated to the club by the municipality,” said Mpengesi.
“There has been nothing from BCM reaching us saying the relationship we concluded before the start of the season has come to an end therefore there is no turning back because we have a standing agreement.”
Mpengesi said any attempt by BCM to pull out of the deal would bring the club into disarray and at odds with the PSL which scheduled fixtures at the start of the season.
“The league draws up the fixture list at the beginning of the season and we reported to them that five of our league matches will be played in Buffalo City, we have nowhere else to go because BCM officials were in Nelson Mandela Bay begging the municipality for the matches which was initially reluctant but eventually agreed to their request.”
The fallout between the BCM and Chippa is believed to be a result of ANC factional fights within the city council.
Confusion over Chippa’s matches
But BCM is adamant it has long terminated the agreement it had with the club.
The metro entered into a six-match agreement with the Port Elizabeth-based PSL outfit at the start of the season.
Already two of those matches, one against Mamelodi Sundowns and the other versus Cape Town City, were played in Mdantsane’s Sisa Dukashe Stadium last year.
But in October last year, the BCM council resolved to terminate that agreement, saying the relationship was not mutually beneficial.
At the weekend the Saturday Dispatch reported that the matter of the metro’s sponsorship of Chippa’s games was deferred to a later date to allow space for clarifications of certain issues.
BCM executive mayor Xola Pakati yesterday confirmed that the council decision to cut ties with the Chilli Boys stood. “Council has pronounced on this matter and we have not engaged with Chippa United since then, so any decision by the club to come to the city is upon them but council terminated ,” said Pakati.
Asked if there was any attempt to revive the agreement, Pakati said “we have no mandate to do so”.
However, club boss Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi said as far as the club was concerned, it had a standing agreement with BCM to bring six games to the city this season.
Mpengesi said they would host Ea Lla Koto at the NU2 venue next Saturday and said they would also bring Ajax Cape Town and SuperSport United to the city as well.
“The issue about the talked about termination, we have only learnt about it in the media because no communication to that effect has been communicated to the club by the municipality,” said Mpengesi.
“There has been nothing from BCM reaching us saying the relationship we concluded before the start of the season has come to an end therefore there is no turning back because we have a standing agreement.”
Mpengesi said any attempt by BCM to pull out of the deal would bring the club into disarray and at odds with the PSL which scheduled fixtures at the start of the season.
“The league draws up the fixture list at the beginning of the season and we reported to them that five of our league matches will be played in Buffalo City, we have nowhere else to go because BCM officials were in Nelson Mandela Bay begging the municipality for the matches which was initially reluctant but eventually agreed to their request.”
The fallout between the BCM and Chippa is believed to be a result of ANC factional fights within the city council.
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