Mapoe a no show at Cheetahs
2010-10-01 10:30
SA Sevens rugby player Lionel Mapoe, who was ordered by the Bloemfontein High Court to report to the Free State, had not arrived at the Cheetahs headquarters at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein yesterday.
This was because the KwaZulu-Natal-based Sharks had filed leave to appeal papers at the Bloemfontein court in the matter, said Cheetahs president Harold Verster.
Free State Judge Corne van Zyl ordered Mapoe to report to the Cheetahs’ business address by 3pm yesterday, or at a time the Free State Cheetahs agreed to in writing earlier this week.
Last week the Cheetahs brought an urgent application against Mapoe, the Sharks and two other parties, to force Mapoe to return to the Free State and play for the Cheetahs.
Judge van Zyl ordered Mapoe could not offer his services as a professional rugby player to the Sharks before his contract with the Cheetahs ended on October 31 2011, except if he and the Cheetahs ended it by consensus.
The Sharks were also prohibited from infringing on the contract between Mapoe and the Cheetahs.
The high court also made an earlier arbitration finding by Advocate AJR van Rhyn on the matter of a court order. The arbitrator had held it would be best if Mapoe honoured his contract with the Free State side.
According to a note on the Sharks website on May 20, the Cheetah winger had terminated his contract with the Free State side after a contractual dispute on March 9 and had requested a clearance certificate from the Cheetahs.
It was confirmed that Mapoe then entered into a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Sharks.
The Cheetahs refused to release Mapoe and held that they had a legally binding contract with the winger and would welcome him back with open arms.
- SAPA