Free State Stars have confirmed the failed sale of the club’s PSL status to a local business consortium led by Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi.
Following the deadline given by the PSL’s chairman Irvin Khoza earlier in the week, the club have now revealed that the proposed deal has now fallen through.
The club highlighted the prospective owners inability to meet the asking price as the major stumbling block behind the failed transaction.
‘Free State Football Club had been approached by Mr. Panyaza Lesufi who offered to buy our Club football franchise on behalf of his consortium,’ said chairman Mike Mokoena.
‘We went as far as signing the sale agreement which was subject to certain conditions which unfortunately could not be met by Mr. Lesufi or his consortium.’
‘When the offer was presented to us, it became a very hard decision to make as football has been part of our lives for many years. However, due to financial constraints that we had to endure for some years, we were left with no choice but to accept Mr. Lesufi’s offer.’
Mokoena also revealed the dire financial situation the club finds itself in after Bonitas ended their partnership as club’s sponsors.
‘We found ourselves in a situation where we had to inject in excess of R12 million in order to keep the Club afloat. We were quick to realise that the situation was unsustainable and that we were running the risk of either being relegated or running the club into bankruptcy. We had to be unselfish and do what was right for the entire Club.’
‘Now that we find ourselves in this situation, we have no choice but to soldier on and hopefully turn things around in no time.
‘Fortunately, our pre-season preparations were not affected by the sale situation other than the transfer of a few of our players to other clubs. This is quite familiar to us as we are usually forced into a situation whereby we need sell some of our best players every season in order to keep our club in business.’
The team will now prepare for another season in the PSL with new coach Denis Lavagne at the helm.
‘Our playing squad is in good shape and we have also managed to secure the services of Coach, Denis Lavagne, who has an outstanding track record. We will be announcing his new assistant coach and a list of our new signings for the upcoming season very soon.
‘We take this opportunity to thank the PSL for affording us the opportunity to consider Mr. Lesufi’s offer. We also thank our players and supporters for their understanding during this short but challenging period. As a collective, we owe it to ourselves to keep the Club in the League and improve the Club’s financial situation as it is our intention to remain in top level football for many more years to come.’ concluded Mokoena.
