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Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Ajax Cape Town were relegated from the South African Premiership Tuesday for fielding ineligible Zimbabwean striker Tendai Ndoro, league officials said.
The club, which has links to former European champions Ajax, had finished second last and were scheduled to play a promotion/relegation match Wednesday.
Losing top-flight status is a massive blow to Ajax as the Premiership is the richest national football league in Africa with 30 million rand (about $2.4 mn/2 mn euros) prize money.
Platinum Stars, who came last, will take the place of Ajax in the play-offs, a Premier Soccer League statement said.
Second division sides Black Leopards and Jomo Cosmos complete the mini-league line-up and the top team after a double round qualify for the 2018/2019 Premiership.
Ajax reacted to the South African Football Association disciplinary decision by announcing they will seek a court order blocking the play-offs.
Ndoro played for three clubs — Orlando Pirates and Ajax in South Africa and Al Faisaly in Saudi Arabia — during the 2017/2018 season, one more than permitted by world body FIFA.
The Cape Town club had seven points deducted while Platinum gained three, which reversed the positions of the clubs on the final standings.
In the revised table, AmaZulu dropped out of the top eight, depriving them of a place in an eight million rand ($640,000/540,000 euros) winners-take-all knockout competition next season.
