Nedbank finalists face a long wait before squaring up for silverware

THE Moses Mabhida Stadium will host the final of the Nedbank Cup on June 24 – nearly a month after the last league game of the 2016-17 season in May.

The announcement was made last night shortly before the draw for the semifinals was conducted in Randburg. It is due to the congested fixture schedule that has given the Premier Soccer League such a torrid time this season that the final has been pushed as far back as June – the international break not long after the end of the campaign making it impossible to play the match sooner. With Mamelodi Sundowns going all the way in the CAF Champions League as well as participating in the Fifa Club World Cup, their games had to be played at a later stage. The league had already made room for the Olympic Games in August and the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations held in Gabon.

Meanwhile defending champions SuperSport United, who beat Kaizer Chiefs 5-3 on penalties on Saturday night, were pitted against Chippa United in the last four of the Nedbank Cup. SuperSport are chasing a rare feat of winning the tournament in two successive seasons and they’ve proven their mettle up to now and will have to do so again in the Eastern Cape against plucky Chippa, who narrowly beat Jomo Cosmos 1-0 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

In the other semifinal, Orlando Pirates will travel to Durban to take on Golden Arrows, who took down Platinum Stars in the quarterfinals over the weekend. Arrows were also responsible for ousting Mamelodi Sundowns in a shock cup victory in the last eight of the competition.

The dates and venues of the Nedbank Cup semifinals will be announced at a later stage by the PSL, but the matches are likely to be played next weekend.