Motsepe Foundation Championship — Off-Season | Late May 2026
Black Leopards FC remain in limbo at the end of May. More than two weeks after the SAFA arbitration hearing that could shape their fate, no verdict has been handed down — and chairman Tshifhiwa Thidiela is now talking openly about a second route back to the professional ranks if the ruling goes the wrong way.
What the arbitration is about
Lidoda Duvha lost their first four matches of 2025/26 — against Casric Stars, AmaTuks, Lerumo Lions and Leicesterford City — while their player registration cards were being withheld by the PSL on the basis of a FIFA ban that, by the league’s own later admission, did not exist. In the opener at Casric, Leopards turned up with nine players and put an outfield man in goal. They lost 3-0. By the time the cards were released the damage was already done, and the points dropped in those four matches ultimately put them on the wrong side of the relegation line.
Leopards lost their case at the PSL Dispute Resolution Chamber and appealed it to SAFA arbitration. Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi led their legal team into a lengthy hearing on Monday 12 May. That hearing ended without a ruling, and three weeks on the verdict is still pending.
What a favourable ruling would change
If the arbitrators side with the club, the most likely outcome is that the four affected fixtures are replayed. Win enough of those and Leopards stay up. Lose them, or fail to win them, and the on-field relegation stands — which, after the 2-1 final-day win over Venda FC on 10 May, was confirmed on the same day on second-bottom maths.
The Motsepe Foundation Championship has already moved on without them. Kruger United have taken the title and are preparing for a Betway Premiership debut. The promotion play-off involving Cape Town City, Milford and Magesi has begun. Leopards’ future, by contrast, is sitting in a SAFA inbox.
The parallel plan
Speaking to the Limpopo Chronicle in coverage published on 26 May, Thidiela confirmed the club is exploring a second route in parallel: buying a PSL status. It is not the path the chairman wants, but it is the path that does not depend on an arbitration outcome he cannot control. The wider point — that two professional Limpopo clubs have spent the past month searching for any way back through the front or the side door — speaks for itself.
Final word
The on-field season is over and the legal one is not. Leopards have done what they could at Thohoyandou Stadium. The next chapter is being written somewhere quieter, by arbitrators and lawyers, and Lidoda Duvha’s supporters can do nothing now except wait for the call.
