WILL FOOTBALL EVER RETURN?
The beautiful game faces ugly uncertainty
AFTER a year-and-ahalf without league action, the wait looks set to rumble on for football fans following the suspension of all sport announced by government earlier this week.
It marks a painful kick where it hurts the most for supporters, players and administrators alike, who had tentatively been eyeing the middle of September as the return date for domestic action after being given the green light to commence training two months back.
With teams now not even allowed to train until 6th September at the earliest, the new season once again looks a distant dream.
To add to the ugly uncertainty surrounding the beautiful game, on Tuesday, it was revealed five of the 16 Premier League teams saw their licence applications turned down by the BFA.
Extension Gunners, Notwane, Gilport Lions, Mahalapye Railway Highlanders and Mogoditshane Fighters were the unsuccessful five.
“The clubs were judged on sporting, infrastructure, administration and personnel, legal and financial categories,” explained BFA Club Licensing Manager, Pako Moakofi, in a press release issued this week.
Although the sides have the right to appeal the decision to the Club Licencing Appeals Committee, it is unclear what will happen should this prove futile. It seems a Premier League with a reduced number of competitors is the most likely outcome.
Considering the tough economic climate, with most teams struggling to pay players, it is hardly surprising they might be found wanting financially. Indeed, perhaps the real shock is that only five fell short and not more!
Local football pundit, Kagiso ‘Fox’ Phatsimo, was in an unusually gloomy mood when Voice Sport sought out his opinion on Wednesday.
He believed it would be extremely unfair to expect teams to commence the league in September now that their training programmes have been suspended for three weeks.
“This suspension means football activities will be at halt until the first week of September and that does not mean football will return promptly,” Phatsimo predicted darkly, adding there were still a number of ‘ unanswered questions’ surrounding the BPL.
“As far as I am concerned, there is no sponsors for the league,” he said.
He also stressed it was unclear what Covid-19 protocols would be in place to ensure teams’ safety.
“There has not been any word on how we are going protect players and coaches from Covid-19 as there have been Covid-19 related deaths in the local sporting arena. We have not heard anything on pre-season tourneys or friendly, which are vital for clubs before the start of the league!” he concluded in despair.