Kaizer Chiefs have been slammed for using underhand tactics to secure the signature of Cape Town Spurs winger Asanele Velebayi, who allegedly wants out of the club.
An initial bid from Amakhosi for the winger was turned down by the Motsepe Foundation Championship side.
The player's family has now reportedly stepped in, trying to convince the Urban Warriors management to allow their son to realise his childhood dream.
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Chiefs enjoy a good relationship with Spurs, recently concluding a deal for promising defender Rushwin Dortley.
"Yes, an offer was indeed made, and it was turned down," Spurs CEO Alexi Efstathiou tells KickOff, in an exclusive interview.
"These tactics and tricks clubs and agents use don't work with Cape Town Spurs.
"They are the oldest strategy in the book.
"If you wanna keep by the rules, you don't contact the players directly. That's the first thing," he explains further.
FIFA rules state that if any club is interested in a contracted player, unless that player is in the last six months of his deal, then they must speak to his club and not the player directly.
"So, a club like Chiefs should not be contacting any players directly. The club's got a contract with the player. He's still got three more years," says the club's chief executive.
Efstathiou says suggestions that they want to hold the player's career back are unfounded, and that whoever wants him must pay.
"It's always been like that. Maybe now the rules have changed.
"We do have a good relationship with Chiefs; I'm not fighting with Chiefs.
"It's only the people who are outside and got nothing to do with this who are fighting. They are saying Cape Town Spurs is standing in the way of players, but they are not saying Chiefs is standing in the way of players.
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"He's a versatile player, so must we sell him for whatever just because the player and his mommy decide he wants to move.
"Is this a joke?
"Otherwise, we are making football a joke in this country now. But the bottom line is, we will not stand in the player's way. It's not the club, it's the offer that is standing in Velebayi's way."