With legal drama continuing between Orlando Pirates and Monnapule Saleng, KickOff lifts the lid on whether the Soweto giants have powers to stop the winger's release for Bafana Bafana duty.
The saga between Saleng and Pirates seemed to have escalated after his representatives, P Management Sports, admitted for the first time that they are in a contractual dispute with the club, in a statement they released on Sunday.
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"This matter involves significant issues at the core of the employer-employee relationship that require (a) resolution," the agency said in a statement.
"Our client (Saleng) remains committed to addressing these matters through the appropriate legal and professional channels," P Management said, in part.
The former Free State Stars man has not played competitively for his club since 7 December last year and yet SAFA have included him in the Bafana squad that will play CHAN qualifiers from Friday this week against Egypt, with the squad assembling on Wednesday.
Even though CHAN qualifiers fall outside the FIFA calendar, in terms of FIFA laws, Pirates cannot refuse to release the Bloemhof-born star to the national team if they are not using him or if he is suspended from club activities.
"Clubs are obliged to release their registered players to the representative teams of the country for which the player is eligible to play on the basis of his nationality if they are called up by the association concerned," Article number 1 reads on FIFA's Regulations On The Status and Transfer of Players.
"Any agreement between a player and a club to the contrary is prohibited," the article states.
Saleng could have a legal case to stand on if he is 'prohibited' from joining the Bafana camp on the basis of being set aside at his club, as this website has been led to believe that he has not been training with the Pirates squad.
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FIFA does not limit the mandatory release of players only during the international windows, as contained in article number 2, which states:
"The release of players under the terms of paragraph 1 of this article is mandatory for all international windows listed in the international match calendar...."
This publication understands The Buccaneers would still be obliged to release Saleng for national duty outside the FIFA calendar, if he is barred from playing for the club until their issues are resolved, or if they are not using him in official competitions.