Ajax Cape Town have parted ways with controversial Zimbabwe international striker Tendai Ndoro, the club confirmed on Monday.
Ajax have decided not to take an option on the contract of the forward, who arrived in January from Saudi Arabia side Al-Faisaly for a transfer fee of R2.5-million.
"The Urban Warriors have officially parted ways with Tendai Ndoro," Ajax confirmed on their website. "Ndoro's contract was up for renewal at the end of this month [June 2018], however the club have opted not to extend his stay at Ikamva.
"The club would like to wish Tendai all the best in his future endeavours and thank him for his services over the past six months."
Ndoro managed just eight appearances, scoring one goal, for the Urban Warriors before he was barred from playing by the arbitrator Nassir Cassim in late March having fallen foul of FIFA regulations.
Ajax were the third club that the 33-year-old had turned out for the in the 2017/18 season, having also made a substitute appearance for Orlando Pirates in August before his move to the Middle East.
The Cape Town club had brought him in to aid their relegation fight, but it proved a disastrous decision after another arbitrator, William Mokhari, later stripped them of seven points when the matter came before him, and handed points to their opponents.
That included Platinum Stars, against who Ndoro scored on debut in January, and it meant the North West club leap-frogged Ajax in the Absa Premiership standings, dooming the side to automatic relegation.
Ajax are in the process of challenging that decision and are likely to hear the outcome of that matter next week. If they fail, they are likely to take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, which will be their final roll of the dice.
If they are successful, it is likely to spark another set of legal challenges by other clubs affected that will throw the start of the 2018/19 campaign, set for the weekend of August 3-5, into doubt.
Ndoro faces further misery when as it was reported earlier this month that he had been arrested on domestic abuse charges after a complaint was laid by his wife of six months, Thando.