Play-off system has many drawbacks

Asmall change in their system that the PSL has been urged to make for a long time now has come back to bite them. I don’t know how many pundits, coaches and players have tried to appeal to the PSL to change their promotion/ relegation system and employ the normal and widely used one where two teams are simply relegated from the top flight, and two promoted from the first division.

The PSL endorsed and adopted a system of play-offs where the team which finished 15th in the Absa Premiership, got a second chance at survival by being involved in the play-offs with the teams which finished second and third in the GladAfrica Championship. This has been going on for a while despite protests.

One of its drawbacks is that it is unfair to a team who worked hard for 3o games, and lost out on the top spot in the Championship by a few points to be denied a chance at top-flight football and forced into the play-offs against a Premiership team.

Most teams from the top-flight have managed to win the play-offs and make a U-turn back into the Premiership. This system is anti-Championship teams.

The second disadvantage is that the team who eventually win the play-offs have less time to prepare for the season because while other teams are on a break, they are playing important games which require total focus.

My mind can’t think of any advantages at the moment and this system now poses a potentially difficult decision for the PSL. With the current uncertainty as to whether the PSL will be able to finish any of their leagues this

Sibongiseni Gumbi

season after they were stopped due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, there might come a time where they have to make a decision to declare winners as things stood when games were paused in early March.

Or they can scrap (highly unlikely) the entire season and start afresh next term. But if they are to declare winners, they would now have a problem with the promotion/relegation scenario.

This decision will obviously face some resistence and complaints about it’s fairness because there were still at least six more games in which teams who were in championship contention or trying to move away from the dreaded axe may well have still done something.

Now added to that, there is this play-off conundrum. And it looks unavoidable because even if the season were to be completed, that could be as late as August which means the play-offs would ave to be staged in September.

With time not on their side to start a new season, this would be a big inconvenience again for the league. The teams who will play in the play-offs will be greaty inconvenienced.

They (PSL) can’t be blamed this time as it was something they couldn’t have predicted. This Covid-19 has messed up plans and forced every industry to adjust. Football is no exception.

Wesley Bo on

As days become weeks, and weeks merge into months, it must be increasingly difficult for athletes to stay in shape. It must surely, however, be more challenging for some than others.

Anyone with enough gym equipment can stay strong, and cardio training can be achieved on treadmills and stationary bicycles, which may be mind-bending and monotonous, but are relatively sufficient replacements for runners and cyclists.

As such, while it is no doubt a concern, fitness in general is not the biggest worry for most right now.

Locked down at home, working on technique is a challenge for many, and damn near impossible for some.

Most top tennis players probably have courts at home, and those who don’t might be able to find a wall in order to knock a ball back-and-forth and work on their swing.

Most golfers, however, can probably do little more than putting, or perhaps chipping if their gardens accommodate the space. Driving practice must have been put on hold for anyone who doesn’t live on a farm.

Similarly, in track and field, javelin and discus throwers might have to wait some time before they can let go of an implement, unless their neighbours don’t mind the occasional spear ripping through a table.

Swimmers also need space, and even a pool in the back garden will do little to match the benefits of training in a pool of sufficient length.

And though they can stay strong and fit, at least to a point, rugby players must be getting rusty without any contact.

A large garden isn’t enough for them to practice tackling and scrums, and their family members might not be keen on providing the numbers required to get the job done.

In the same vein, boxers can hit the bag, but unless they have family members who are willing to step in the ring, sparring is on hold.

Football players might be able to rope in others in the house to a game in the garden, and cricketers could attempt the same.

But their opponents are unlikely to provide the quality they usually face when they’re in the nets.

Indeed, all athletes are locked in a battle to ensure they are ready when sport resumes. Tackling and punching bags can be good training, but it can only get you so far.