SOWETAN SAYS | PSL needs to urgently up its game

To say this has been an unimpressive season in the PSL, marred by off-field incompetencies and poor levels of professionalism, would be an understatement.

The latest incident to call the PSL’s professional standing into question occurred last weekend, when it was forced to postpone the Mamelodi Sundowns v Sekhukhune United Nedbank Cup quarterfinal match because the venue that was to host it – the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville – was double-booked.

To the shock of football fans, the PSL sent out a statement after 9pm on Friday – hours before the match was to take place on Saturday – stating it was not aware the venue had been booked to stage the Fifa Women’s under-17 World Cup qualifier between SA and Nigeria.

“Unfortunately, the PSL learnt of social media reports that the stadium has seen it fit to accept the book of the U17 match scheduled to kick off at 3pm,” the leagure said.

“The PSL raised the issue urgently, including demanding confirmation that the stadium agreement would be complied with, failing which the league would have to accept that it had been repudiated. No such confirmation has been forthcoming.”

The league went on to offer an apology to “all stakeholders of the beautiful game”. Perhaps the league’s hands were tied, and it had no option. But to learn of the double booking only hours before the match says a lot about the league’s own planning – or lack of it.

If the PSL and Safa had any kind of relationship, this sad situation wouldn’t have occurred. But more pertinently, the PSL has yet to say anything about the rescheduling of the match. It has been more than four days since it was canned, and we are nowhere near knowing when it will take place, with next week being a Fifa week and the Nedbank Cup semifinal – where Sekhukhune or Sundowns will face Kaizer Chiefs – set for April 13.

Last weekend’s shenanigans were not the first to mar the PSL this season. Apart from the long-running Royal AM saga, which has plunged the programme into chaos, two other matches didn’t play to scheduled completion in the past few weeks.

Magesi had their match with Chippa United extended to the following day due to a power failure at Seshego Stadium, while SuperSport United v Golden Arrows game was affected by load-shedding two weeks ago.

The league has remained silent on the latter fixture. There has also not been a word on the Arrows v Orlando Pirates match, which didn’t take place because of a waterlogged pitch last month.  

Is it too much to ask the PSL to keep everyone in the loop? Why is the league so uncommunicative?