With the contractual dispute over Boy Madingwane likely to end in tears for one of Chippa United and Baroka FC, a legal expert has explained to KickOff how the matter can be resolved.
The player has surfaced at Chippa ahead of the start of the brand-new Betway Premiership season, signing a three-year deal.
However, Baroka are claiming the fullback still has a contract with them and have reportedly made means to try and get the top-flight outfit to 'return' the 22-year-old to them, to no avail.
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This is a story that has attracted a lot of attention as players simultaneously signing contracts with two clubs is a scourge that tends to rear its head from time to time in South African football.
The most memorable of these episodes was that of Siphelele Mthembu, who was said to have clinched deals with both Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates back in 2008, leading to a legal wrangle between the two Soweto giants.
In the end, Pirates won the case and the big striker had to join them after it emerged that dates on both contracts showed that he had signed with the Buccaneers before Amakhosi, though he never really lived up to all the noise made at the time.
Mthembu did later join Chiefs, in what was yet another lukewarm stint.
As for the Madingwane case, it remains to be seen how it will unfold from this point, with media reports revealing that Bakgaga are claiming that his initial deal with them was a six-month one with a one-year option, meaning he has one more year remaining on his contract with the Limpopo side.
The player and his camp, however, are said to be disputing this.
Legal expert Mpho Nkontlha of Nkontlha Attorneys Inc. has chipped in on the matter, which has the potential to delay the versatile player's career should it drag on in the PSL Dispute Resolution Chamber.
"We have to see what the contract stipulated. PSL has an original copy. if there is an option, which has financial figures annexed to it, then it gets automatically triggered without negotiating the terms. The option is for the club," explained Nkontlha, speaking exclusively to KickOff.
"But if the option had no figures, then that option is invalid to be exercised without firstly making an offer to the player and the player accepting it."
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All fingers point at the contract between the player and Baroka, as also revealed by FUSA [Footballers Union of South Africa] when speaking to this website yesterday.
Madingwane was a key part of the Baroka side that went all the way to the relegation/promotion play-offs last season, but it seems a step up to the elite division is all he needs right now, but the contractual dispute will go a long way in tainting his image even before he kicks a ball in anger for his 'new club'.