Bloemfontein Celtic, one of the most iconic clubs in South Africa, may be close to returning to the PSL following revelations by Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie.
Celtic sold its status to businesswoman Shawn Mkhize in 2021 and she rebranded it to Royal AM, moving its base from Free State to KwaZulu-Natal, with the people of Bloemfontein left disappointed.
The club enjoyed a huge support base and produced a number of top players such as Orlando Pirates stars Sipho Chaine, Tshegofatso Mabasa and Kabelo Dlamini, as well as Neo Maema of Mamelodi Sundowns, but its chairman Max Tshabalala ran into financial problems and opted to sell it.
McKenzie confirms Celtic’s recent move
However, recent developments have pointed to a return to the PSL after Bloemfontein Celtic withdrew from the ABC Motsepe League this month, citing a need to return to the PSL through a different consortium, and McKenzie looks to have confirmed the move.
“There are people very close to me who are busy buying Bloemfontein Celtic,” McKenzie said on Marawa Sports Worldwide.
“Busy talking to a franchise in the PSL. People very close to me because they want to bring Celtic back to Bloemfontein. When I spoke to them, they said they bought a company and have been given [up to] end of January to come with a Yei or Ney.
“They are speaking to a particular club in the PSL to buy the franchise and take it to Bloemfontein.”
Is the consortium targeting Royal AM?
Since selling the club to Mkhize, a lot has changed, however, Celtic struggling to come out of the third tier, while the businesswoman is now on the verge of losing Royal AM after also facing financial challenges.
She has been slapped with a R40 million tax bill by the South African Tax and Revenue Service, who raided her home and seized luxury cars.
The club, which is under a transfer ban for failing to pay ex-forward Samir Nurkovic R15 million, has been unable to pay players’ salaries for November and December and now, the PSL has cancelled all their matches after failing to provide an assurance over their financial future.
McKenzie was asked if now would have been the best time for the consortium to take back Bloemfontein Celtic from Mkhize who looks unable to salvage it.
Sports Minister keen to have iconic club back
“They have spoken to the lady and the negotiations were not successful hence they are speaking to another club,” he added.
“These are people I can vouch for integrity wise. They are not in football but all of us from Bloemfontein understand one thing, come hell or what, Bloemfontein Celtic has to come back,” said McKenzie, who hails from Heidedal in Bloemfontein, and has never hidden his desire to have Celtic back in the PSL.
The club enjoyed a large fanbase in Free State since its formation in 1969 but had its ups and downs, with financial challenges seeing them relegated in 2001 before bouncing back to the top flight after three years.
