‘We don’t want to wait’: Sukazi says as he edges closer to buying Celtic status

Tim Sukazi has been in negotiations with owner Max Tshabalala since January over the purchase in a bid to make his TS Galaxy side a top-flight outfit.

JOHANNESBURG - Football club owner, Tim Sukazi, has given an update on his quest to purchase the PSL status of Absa Premiership outfit Bloemfontein Celtic.

Sukazi has been in negotiations with owner Max Tshabalala since January over the purchase in a bid to make his TS Galaxy side a top-flight outfit.

The club was only founded in May 2018 when Sukazi purchased the National First Division (NFD) league license from Cape Town All Stars.

Speaking to EWN Sport on Sunday, Sukazi said he had until the end of the month to submit a financial guarantee before he neared the final stretch of his purchase.

“We have signed an agreement and that was in March,” he said. “Usually, in any commercial transaction, an agreement will have its conditions and there are timelines to it. In this particular one, we have to submit a guarantee by the 31st of May 2020. So, this is our last week, we need to do that and once that happens, then our next critical path will be to obtain the approval of the executive committee of the National Soccer League (NSL). So, you cannot say we have acquired the status until these two steps happen. These are critical parts that must happen”.

When it comes to the future of Celtic players, Sukuzi said they would be added to their ranks along with the current crop of TS Galaxy players.

“It’s a condition of the deal. It’s a must, they come as is,” Sukazi said of the playing staff. “Between the two, we are going to merge two formidable teams and we will come out of it with a very, very strong side if all goes well. They will be part of us and the team will relocate to Mpumalanga.”

Sukazi also admits that he didn’t want to wait for his side to get promotion from the GladAfrica Championship for them to play in the top-flight.

He said Galaxy deserved to be playing among the best teams in the country.

“We want to seize this opportunity because it’s not cast in stone that we are going to stay in the NFD for one season and then go up. You can stay in the NFD for 20 seasons and never get promoted. For us, we look at it and say it would make financial sense if we were to acquire PSL status when it’s available now, rather than waiting and wanting to bide our time in the NFD.

"We don’t know how long we can last. It’s a jungle, the NFD, there are truths and lies in that league. We have built TS Galaxy and it has proven to have a structure that will serve South African football well if it operates in the Premier Soccer division rather than the NFD.”