What the Siya crew has been told…

Belgian-born Hugo Broos, who has arguably the hottest seat in South African football as Bafana Bafana head coach, will have a difficult few weeks leading up to the Africa Cup of Nations as he has officially come to learn that the relationship between the country’s football governing body, SAFA, and the Premier Soccer League is not always as smooth as it should be.

The septuagenarian has come out publicly to voice his displeasure in how the League has not considered the national team’s preparation for the biennial tournament when compiling the fixtures. The last fixtures of the first half of the season will be played on New Year’s Eve, but the crucial piece of information lies in that most of the players who are likely to feature in the squad for Afcon will play the day before that.

All of Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport

United are expected to play on December 30, with Orlando Pirates set to be in action the day before.

The Afcon is due to start on January 13 next year, with South Africa’s opening match against Mali set to be played three days later. This gives Broos less than two weeks to prepare for the opening match of the competition, with players having little rest in-between to take part in a competition that will certainly demand a lot from them, given the quality each country possesses within their squads.

According to information received by the Siya crew, SAFA made efforts on numerous occasions to speak to the PSL about the fixtures. Broos has complained, but it seems to have all fallen on deaf ears.

The outspoken coach wanted the players to at least have a week’s rest before going into Bafana camp, but that won’t happen now with the fixtures set to be played until the end of December. He, therefore, is set to have a squad of unrested players and that could have a negative effect on how the team performs in Ivory Coast, where the Afcon will be staged.

It’s understood that there are some high-ranking members at SAFA who are not pleased with how the PSL have handled matters, feeling that they are not doing enough to try to help the national team cause.

“SAFA has made an effort to try to get the PSL to speak to the PSL about this issue. They have written letters to the PSL, but that has not changed anything. From what I understand, there have been no meetings between SAFA and the PSL on this matter. The PSL is going ahead as planned until the last days of December and Bafana Bafana will have to find a way to work around this,” an insider told Soccer Laduma.

According to information received by this publication, the PSL was tied in how they would be able to handle things, with the African Football League coming into play, as well as the return of the Carling Knockout, previously known as the Telkom Knockout. The competition meant that the League had to squeeze in more fixtures into an already tight schedule, making it difficult to even consider the request made by SAFA for the league programme to be put on pause at least before Christmas.

It’s understood that the PSL also did not want the fixtures to go beyond May due to the fact that the end-of-season play-offs must be played and the winner there has to get enough time to rest before the 2024/25 season gets underway. The topflight’s last matches will be played on May 25, 2024.