What the Siya crew has been told…

A question that has been asked quite a few times in recent weeks is why the Premier Soccer League is currently on a break, even though there are no PSL players at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

FIFA have not mandated leagues around the world to stop playing, which is why leagues such as the Egyptian Premier League, Tanzania Premier League, the Ligue 1 in Ivory Coast as well as the Angolan Girabola are currently being played, despite the ongoing showpiece in the Middle East country.

The PSL made it clear from the onset that domestic action would take a break during the global showpiece, despite the fact that Bafana Bafana had not booked a spot at the tournament.

According to information received by the Siya crew, the sponsorship that the PSL has with MultiChoice has played a role in the decision to go on a recess.

MultiChoice have paid big money as the television rights holders for PSL matches, worth hundreds of million rand, and it’s understood a part of the decision had to do with them not wanting PSL viewership to dip during the World Cup.

In fact, this publication has been informed that there has been a concern regarding PSL viewership in general, so having both the World Cup and local matches on television at the same time would not have made sense for the rights holders.

Soccer Laduma understands that MultiChoice also wanted to maximise viewership of the World Cup on their platforms as well, without subscribers having to choose between the spectacle and thePSL.

A source in the know spoke to the Siya crew, giving some clarity on the decision-making.

“You don’t want to have a counter-attraction happening on television. They’ve done these things over the years. From what I understand, a part of it has to do with sponsorship. I think SuperSport has way too much power over the PSL, or they allow them deliberately. They want to make sure they leverage their sponsorship, to make sure it does not impact on the PSL,” the source revealed.

“They would not want to have something that takes away eyes from their product, so they would rather suspend the games because they have that much power.”

The break has not quite gone down well with everyone in the PSL, with some feeling that the league should have gone on.

One of the club bosses has also questioned the decision.

TS Galaxy chairman Tim Sukazi does not understand why

PSL action had to stop, considering that Bafana Bafana are not at the World Cup. What’s more, not a single player is representing the local top-flight league at the showpiece.

“Personally, the taking of the break by our league would have made a lot of sense if, for one, our national team was at the World Cup, or at the very least, we had a significant number of players playing at the World Cup.

“We’ve got no players at the World Cup and our national team has not qualified. Therefore, in my view, we don’t have good enough reasons to stop, besides our desire not to compete with the World Cup for TV space. There could be those reasons,” Sukazi said, speaking to the crew.

“Apart from that, taking a break is not good for our cause. If I were to have it my way, we would have just played.”