Cancellation of PSL season top of crunch meeting agenda
Looking at pros and cons of completing campaigns - or not
Heated discussion is expected on promotion and relegation solutions
The unprecedented cancellation of the top and lower tier seasons will be first on the agenda when the Premier Soccer League holds a crunch board of governors meeting on Friday.
All 32 National Soccer League (NSL) teams representing the Absa Premiership and the GladAfrica Championship are going to discuss whether to complete their respective 2019-20 campaigns or to declare them null and void.
There are pros and cons for both arguments and it is believed the teams are divided on what should happen‚ with Ajax Cape Town in the National First Division believed to be one of those adamant that the league must be completed.
The other consideration on the table is to finish the premiership in a Gauteng bio-safe environment (BSE)‚ but cancel the NFD with Ajax promoted.
Swallows‚ Uthongathi and Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM)‚ now in second to fourth positions in the NFD‚ would then go to the promotion/relegation playoffs with the team that finishes second from bottom in the PSL.
This would mean no relegation from the NFD as the SA Football Association (Safa) is unlikely to have promoted teams from the amateur leagues because football at that level will only resume at level 1 of the lockdown‚ which could be in 2021.
If both leagues are cancelled‚ heated discussion is expected on the promotion and relegation solutions reached as a result.
One Premier Division club owner‚ who wished not to be named‚ said while he could understand NFD clubs wanting their season to end because of the costs of playing in the bio-bubble‚ top-flight sides would still want to try complete the season.
He added that crucial to a decision would be feedback the PSL had received from its stakeholders — the Nedbank Cup and Absa Premiership’s sponsors‚ and broadcasters SuperSport.
“I think there are mixed feelings about it‚” they said on the prospects of a cancellation of the PSL and what other topflight owners would feel about it.
“We are all waiting for the stakeholders’ feedback.
“There has been a delay ‚ and I believe the last meeting will be held tomorrow [Thursday].
“If the stakeholders can give us the confidence about completion‚ that can decide the decision we have to make. “If the season is null and void‚ a lot of other permutations will have to be discussed‚ such as relegation and promotion primarily.”
The club owner said late consultations with the stakeholders and Friday’s board meeting made it impossible for any compromise still to be reached with Safa for a kickoff this weekend‚ and highly unlikely for the middle of next week.
Clubs face a further round of testing 48 hours before entering the BSE‚ which is set to cost between R2.5m and R3m per team.
Another official said most clubs in the NFD were completely against Ajax being promoted should the second-tier be cancelled, because all the teams in the top eight still had a mathematical chance of winning the league.
“I expect sparks to fly in the meeting because most teams still have a chance of winning the league if Ajax stumbles and drop points‚” he said.
“There are also many other teams who have a chance of qualifying for the play-offs and they believe they can sneak into the PSL via the play-offs.”
The PSL had hoped for a July 18 kickoff to allow for six weeks to complete the league by August 31‚ which it says the league and its clubs cannot go beyond due to financial constraints.
Safa set a date for an August 1 kickoff‚ largely because its referees will not be ready before then.
A PSL club like Bidvest Wits has nine league games‚ plus a Nedbank semifinal and potentially final to play‚ which seems impossible within a month.
So practicality‚ plus the views of the sponsors and broadcasters‚ will be the factors deciding the PSL decision on Friday.
Safa has also received confirmation from Fifa that the season can continue after August 31‚ and the 2020-21 campaign then readjusted in accordance.
Safa has had confirmation from global ruling body Fifa that it can extend the 2019/2020 Premier Soccer League (PSL) season past August 31.
Mother body Safa said in a statement released on Wednesday morning that “Fifa has written to Safa advising them that they can extend the completion of the current Premier Soccer League season in terms of the Transfer Management System (TMS)”.
“In the same context‚ Fifa has given Safa the mandate to amend the start of the PSL next season (2020/2021) and this may require the association to amend the registration periods provided in the TMS.”
Safa’s statement quoted the Fifa letter as saying: “As such‚ the association concerned should extend the end date of the ongoing season in the TMS‚ to reflect the match schedule. This may also require the association to amend the registration periods provided in the TMS.”
This may not come as significant comfort to the PSL‚ however. PSL chair Irvin Khoza had already effectively acknowledged that Fifa had clarified that domestic seasons could go past an August 31 cutoff date as long as the global body was informed of this.
However‚ Khoza indicated that the PSL was intent on finishing the 2019/2020 Premiership and GladAfrica Championship seasons by the end of August for financial reasons. Premiership clubs have received their monthly R2m grants until the end of June and their normal ex gratia payments for July.
But the end of the Absa sponsorship of the top-flight league competition means teams are running on empty in payments from the league into August.
Clubs have already extended some contracts that were ending in June to the end of August. To extend them again into September
is seen as too great a cost for club owners already significantly dipping into their own reserves to pay players without playing for the past four months‚ when there have also been not gate takings.
The cost for PSL clubs of housing their squads in a Gauteng bio-safe bubble to complete the season in August is believed to be another R2.5m per team.
According to reports‚ with a team such as Bidvest Wits with nine Premiership matches left to play‚ plus a Nedbank Cup semifinal and potentially final‚ a month is not seen by the PSL as practical to complete the 2019/2020 season by August 31.The PSL is reportedly considering cancelling the season.