Royal AM Returns To Training While Five Players Were Absent

Royal AM began their first training session of the year on Tuesday; however, five players were absent.
Thwihli Thwahla was scheduled to return to training on Monday after experiencing a late December salary payment. However, that training session was abruptly canceled at the last minute, leaving players uninformed about the reasons.
Despite the previous day’s absence, all five players returned for the second training session of the year on Wednesday.

The much-publicized salary dispute at Royal AM led to the postponement of their game against Chippa United last Saturday due to unpaid December salaries.
Following the eventual payment of salaries later this month, club general manager Richard Makhoba assured Sportswire that the team would be ready for their upcoming match against Orlando Pirates at Harry Gwala Stadium on Tuesday.
The club’s financial woes stem from the freezing of assets belonging to its president, Shauwn Mkhize, who allegedly owes the South African Revenue Service (SARS) R40 million. This led to SARS freezing Royal AM’s assets as well and appointing a curator to oversee the club’s affairs.
The off-field turmoil is mirrored on the pitch. Royal AM currently languishes second from bottom with eight points after 11 matches, one point above bottom-placed Magesi FC, who have played one game more.
A potential source of encouragement for Royal AM is that they have two games in hand compared to 14th-placed Richards Bay, who have accumulated nine points while also facing their own challenges.