The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has announced the death of its former prosecutor, Nande Becker. The league confirmed that Becker “succumbed to a long illness”.

“We would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the Becker family for the loss of the patriarch of the family,” a statement from the league read.

Becker served as the league’s prosecutor in disciplinary matters, having ascended to the post at the beginning of 2013. The outspoken attorney vacated the position in November 2021.

“I first became involved in football through representing a number of [premier and first division] clubs during the 1980s — mainly with civil issues, as clubs were not entitled to legal representation in disciplinary hearings, and the Dispute Resolution Chamber did not exist at the time,” Becker told City Press in 2019.

He was an attorney with 40 years of experience.

During his time with the league, Becker oversaw many controversial cases that, in true league style, dragged on for months without resolution and sometimes ended up in the courts.

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The saga involving Ajax Cape Town (now Cape Town Spurs) and their fielding of an ineligible player, Tendai Ndoro, is one such case. Then there was the case relating to Wayne Arendse and Mamelodi Sundowns, which also dragged on for months before reaching a conclusion. During the 2018/2019 season, Sundowns fielded Arendse in a match against the now defunct Bidvest Wits. This was despite the fact that on the team sheet provided to the league, Arendse’s name was absent.

Becker’s last oversight of a high-profile league case was the one that involved Royal AM, Sekhukhune United and the PSL. The squabble revolved around who were the rightful champions of South Africa’s second-tier football league, and thus deserved automatic promotion into the topflight .

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Royal AM and Sekhukhune stuck in Premier Soccer League disciplinary processes”

The case dragged on for months and ended up in the courts. Sekhukhune ultimately retained their promotion status, while Royal resorted to buying out the cash-strapped Bloemfontein Celtic to secure a spot in the premier division.

A few months after the dust had settled on the Royal rumble, Becker called it quits.

The South African Football Association sent its condolences in a statement, saying: “Safa would like to wish the Becker family comfort at this time of sorrow.” DM