The decision by Royal AM to exhaust all appeal avenues in their case against Samir Nurkovic has left the club facing the risk of having to pay more money in getting the transfer ban lifted.
As it stands Royal AM have already lost the case – as per FIFA's ruling – but have now appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the hope of the decision being overturned.
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With an ongoing interest of 5% being added it means the amount that Royal AM owe has grown into double figure millions.
The KwaZulu-Natal club has not able to make any signings in this window due to the transfer ban.
"They appealed both the decision of FIFA in relation to the money and the fact that they need to pay Samir all that is due to him for the contract plus interest," says Davor Lazic, who is Nurkovic's legal representative.
"But the fact remains that the ban was never lifted because all they did was appeal and then go to the media to claim that CAS lifted the transfer ban.
"That never happened and was just misleading the public because no one ever stated anything like that.
"FIFA ruled on April 27 and delivered that ruling on May 3 and FIFA is clear on those rules of appeal and the days elapsed.
"They have been informed by FIFA that they have no grounds to file any request for appeal after the stipulated period.
"This is when FIFA imposed the transfer ban via SAFA which is when they strangely appealed the payment ruling and ban.
"CAS then confirmed receipt of the document, but they then ran to the media claiming the ban has been lifted.
"Nothing has ever changed about the ban, and they remain banned pending payment of all that is due.
"CAS has since made a stand that they will not make any other ruling with regards to the transfer ban.
"FIFA, CAS, Samir, and I are all in the same line because this is all being done according to the rules.
"It is either they don't know anything about the facts of the law, or they are pretending not to know anything about the facts of the law, and they go out in public saying what they have said.
"At this stage, we are only waiting for the final decision from CAS relating to missing deadlines.
"Formally, they have already lost and even if they go to the facts of the case they will still lose anyway.
"You cannot file any appeal after the stipulated period.
"Whatever they do now is just a waste of time, energy, and money.
"What is happening is that the 5% interest on what they owe will keep growing.
"For a club, the money that they must pay is not as big as what they stand to lose through this transfer ban.
"This case is bad for the reputation of the club.
"The process of these CAS appeals comes at a fee which is calculated in Swiss Francs based on the disputed sum, arbitrators' costs, and fees, plus all other related costs.
"After all of this is done, they will be liable to pay all other costs including their lawyer.
"Whatever it is that Royal AM had to pay will now be more than what they initially had to pay," details Lazic.
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