PSL board of governors decide on current league programme

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) board of governors held its monthly meeting at the league’s offices yesterday (Thursday). The outcome of the meeting was not known at the time of our going to press.

According to the chairman of the board, Dr Irvin Khoza, the league programme for the current season was high on the agenda at yesterday’s meeting.

The fact that the state president, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, announced last Thursday that the country would be moving from level 5 to level 4 of the lockdown with effect from today (Friday) means that the board will be compelled to take radical decisions. When pronouncing the new changes, the state president stated that the activities that remained prohibited under level 4 included the playing of soccer matches at all levels.

The decision will undoubtedly affect the PSL’s league programme in a negative way because the league has already lost six weeks to date. Some of the decisions that the board is likely to take include playing the six remaining league matches at the earliest convenient time, even if it means in three-months’ time from now.

This decision will have far-reaching implications as it will affect the league’s future soccer seasons.

The other route that the board is likely to take is the nullifying of the current season. This decision will benefit the teams that are currently lying in the relegation zone, Black Leopards, Amazulu FC, Baroka FC, Polokwane City and Chippa United, as no team will be relegated. Should the board opt for this scenario, they will be forced to find ways to promote two teams from the GladAfrica Championship division and maintain 18 teams in the Absa Premiership division.

Although this decision might be too expensive for the PSL, it will benefit the whole football hierarchy in the country as it gives all lower divisions an opportunity to promote their qualifying teams to the higher leagues.

Should they nullify the season, the PSL will not be the first to do so. The other countries that had already nullified their current soccer seasons include Germany, Australia, Poland, and Slovakia.   

Sport - Date: 30 April 2020

Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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