By Dylan Bettencourt
- Royal AM owes over R15-million to striker Samir Nurkovic and R600,000 plus interest to Ricardo Nascimento.
- The club was kicked out of the league, owes SARS R40-million and is under curatorship, but has vanished from Fifa’s blacklist.
Royal AM is no longer on FIFA’s registration ban list, even though the club still owes millions and is in the middle of legal battles.
The Durban-based team was thrown out of the Premier Soccer League ahead of the 2024/25 season for failing to pay its debts.
Star striker Samir Nurkovic was supposed to earn more than R15-million during his three-year contract. He was promised R5.04-million for the 2022/23 season, R5.28-million for 2023/24, and R5.52-million if the club chose to keep him for a third year.
But he was only paid once, R245,943.91, according to documents seen by KickOff from FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Defender Ricardo Nascimento is still owed R600,000 plus interest, dating back to September 2023.
FIFA had slapped Royal AM with a transfer ban for failing to pay, and the club ignored the restriction for three windows. Another ban was added when the Nascimento money also went unpaid.
Now, without explanation, the club has disappeared from FIFA’s list of banned teams.
Sources say legal action is still ongoing, so it is unclear whether the removal means the cases are resolved or if it is just part of a procedure, Briefly reported.
Royal AM’s collapse followed huge financial problems, including a R40-million tax bill with the South African Revenue Service. The club was placed under curatorship and suspended from playing.
The PSL later voted to remove the team from the league completely. To fill the gap, the PSL has asked the South African Football Association to promote three new teams from the ABC Motsepe League.
TS Galaxy is now the only active top-flight team still banned from registering new players. They were hit with a fresh three-window ban in April 2025.
Other blacklisted clubs include Cape Town All Stars, Royal Eagles, Witbank Spurs, BTM Sports and Pretoria Callies.
Pictured above: Royal AM.
Image source: File
