South African Football Club Rocked by Claims of Players Betting Against Their Team

• Allegations involving disgruntled players have put a South African football club under scrutiny, but the claims remain unproven
• Club leadership says it will investigate the rumours before deciding whether any action is necessary
• The allegations have emerged after a difficult run of results and earlier reports of salary delays

A South African football club is facing allegations that some of its players pooled thousands of rand to place bets against their own team. The claims have prompted club leadership to call for an investigation, although no wrongdoing has been established.

The allegations concern Leicesterford City, which competes in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, South African football's second-tier league. They surfaced after the club suffered three consecutive defeats, including a 3-0 loss to Lerumo Lions at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday, 24 October 2026.

According to KickOff, sources close to the matter said some players were unhappy with their lack of playing time and had pooled money to bet against the club.

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Club leadership confirms investigation is needed

Leicesterford City's highest representative, Tswaledi Kgaphola, told KickOff that he had heard the allegations and wanted to establish the facts before any conclusions were reached.

“As we speak, I’m going to verify at the office. I heard the rumour as well. We just played on Saturday, and since then we have not had any hearing or processes,” Kgaphola said.

He added that players were reminded every season that betting was prohibited.

“So, if indeed they’ve done it, they did it knowingly that they should not do it,” he told KickOff.

Kgaphola said the club needed to identify whether anyone was involved while avoiding divisions caused by unsubstantiated rumours.

The allegations also follow reports in July 2026 that players went at least two months without receiving their salaries. No established link has been confirmed between the reported salary delays and the betting claims.

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The matter remains unresolved, and the allegations should not be treated as proven misconduct.

South Africans spared tax hikes as government plans 20% betting levy

Briefly News also reported that South Africans would be spared increases to income tax and VAT following better-than-expected government revenue collection.

However, the government is planning a new 20% levy on online betting platforms. The proposed charge would apply to operators rather than individual gamblers and would come on top of existing provincial taxes.

Source: Briefly News