Task team to report in nine days time when football should resume
The SA Football Association (Safa) and Premier Soccer League (PSL) six-member ad-hoc task team mandated with mapping the way forward for when professional football should resume has until Wednesday, May 27, to submit its report.
The report will then be handed over to the government, through the sports ministry under Sports, Arts and Recreation Minister Nathi Mthethwa to peruse and make the final decision.
This comes after the two soccer bodies’ joint liaison committee met this week to chart the path forward for the possible resumption of football action in the country after all sporting activities were suspended mid-march due to the Coronavirus crisis.
The world of football is on tenterhooks at the moment after the German Bundesliga resumed playing competitive matches, with other countries set to follow, but all are taking into consideration that the safety of the players and supporting staff should be guaranteed at all cost.
Safa’s newly appointed acting CEO Tebogo Motlanthe told Sunday World yesterday that he was not mandated to speak to the media as member of the task team.
“We will only be able to give details about the work the joint team is doing after we have completed everything and submitted our document to all the relevant parties,” said Motlanthe.
“An update on the possibility of when to start playing football again will be given after 14 days from the date the task team was set up. We have to complete our work first for us to be clear as to where we are heading.”
He said the member tasked with speaking to the media was Safa executive member Poobalan “Poobi” Govindasamy, but he did not answer his phone when contacted.
Tebogo Motlanthe (Safa acting CEO), Mato Madlala (PSL acting CEO), Thulani Ngwenya (Safa chief medical officer), Lervasen Pillay (PSL head of medical), Poobalan Govindasamy – a member of Safa national executive committee and Jose Ferreira, who is a PSL executive committee member.