A looming standoff between the SA Football Association (Safa) and the Premier Soccer League over the Christmas fixture schedule could have been avoided had the two organisations ironed out their issues which have been pending for too long.
Over the weekend at its national executive meeting, Safa resolved to ask the PSL to conclude its matches earlier than December 31. The request was triggered by national coach Hugo Broos’s need to have players rested enough for the Africa Cup of Nations, to where Bafana Bafana will head early next month for the continental finals in Ivory Coast.
Broos sent Safa to ask the PSL to end its fixtures on December 23, to enable players to rest a bit before they assemble for a Bafana camp in Stellenbosch in the new year. The PSL, however, has not indicated if this request would be accepted. But its not hard to conclude that it’s unlikely to find resonance in the league’s ranks.
Already, the PSL has had to accept the Confederation of African Football’s slotting of the African Football League into the middle of the programme in October and November, meaning Mamelodi Sundowns could not be in domestic action during that time.
As a result, Sundowns are still trying catch up, and should the programme end on December 23 rather than seven days later, the PSL would be in a pickle. But such last-minute requests would be unnecessary if the league and Safa been on the same page. Bafana officially qualified for the Nations Cup more than six months ago, so why didn’t Safa alert the PSL to the need for a camp?
PSL fixtures are circulated as a draft, even to Safa, before being approved, so what was Safa’s comment or objection then? Chances are Safa signed off on these fixtures. The PSL, too, should be doing much better with the schedule. Some teams play way too few games due to certain weeks reserved exclusively for cup games.
This is not sustainable and indeed no proper professional league in world football would reserve an entire weekend just for two semifinal games, as was the case recently when we had the Carling Knockout semis.
We pray for the day when Safa and PSL can speak in one voice for the betterment of our football.
SOWETAN | Safa, PSL need to have one voice
Image: Sydney Seshibedi
A looming standoff between the SA Football Association (Safa) and the Premier Soccer League over the Christmas fixture schedule could have been avoided had the two organisations ironed out their issues which have been pending for too long.
Over the weekend at its national executive meeting, Safa resolved to ask the PSL to conclude its matches earlier than December 31. The request was triggered by national coach Hugo Broos’s need to have players rested enough for the Africa Cup of Nations, to where Bafana Bafana will head early next month for the continental finals in Ivory Coast.
Broos sent Safa to ask the PSL to end its fixtures on December 23, to enable players to rest a bit before they assemble for a Bafana camp in Stellenbosch in the new year. The PSL, however, has not indicated if this request would be accepted. But its not hard to conclude that it’s unlikely to find resonance in the league’s ranks.
Already, the PSL has had to accept the Confederation of African Football’s slotting of the African Football League into the middle of the programme in October and November, meaning Mamelodi Sundowns could not be in domestic action during that time.
As a result, Sundowns are still trying catch up, and should the programme end on December 23 rather than seven days later, the PSL would be in a pickle. But such last-minute requests would be unnecessary if the league and Safa been on the same page. Bafana officially qualified for the Nations Cup more than six months ago, so why didn’t Safa alert the PSL to the need for a camp?
PSL fixtures are circulated as a draft, even to Safa, before being approved, so what was Safa’s comment or objection then? Chances are Safa signed off on these fixtures. The PSL, too, should be doing much better with the schedule. Some teams play way too few games due to certain weeks reserved exclusively for cup games.
This is not sustainable and indeed no proper professional league in world football would reserve an entire weekend just for two semifinal games, as was the case recently when we had the Carling Knockout semis.
We pray for the day when Safa and PSL can speak in one voice for the betterment of our football.
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