Club-country trouble brewing for Bafana
THE South African Football Association (Safa) appears to be on a collision course with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) over the scheduling of fixtures during the African Nations Championship (Chan).
The tournament will be held in South Africa from January 11 to February 1, but there is still no clarity whether Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund will get the players he wants because the event does not fall within the Fifa calendar.
Tensions rose this week when PSL CEO Brand de Villiers was quoted on SABC-TV as saying it was up to the clubs to decide whether to release their players to the national team. But this struck raw nerves. Insiders at Safa told the Sunday Times they were taken aback by the comments, saying De Villiers should not have made public pronouncements on the issue without finalising matters with all parties concerned.
Asked for an official response, Safa CEO Dennis Mumble said: ‘‘The national executive committee of Safa, which is the highest decision-making body, will make a decision and we expect our members to abide by that.”
In the same TV interview, De Villiers was further quoted as saying: ‘‘The PSL focuses on PSL business. We have to make sure the PSL delivers to sponsors, spectators and its stakeholders. The performance of Bafana Bafana is the responsibility of Safa.
“The PSL is a business with a R700-million turnover and we have contractual obligations.”
According to the fixture list on the PSL website, there is a full programme scheduled between January 23 and February 2.
Igesund was understandably frustrated by all the uncertainty surrounding the issue.
‘‘Its going to be very difficult for me if the league has a full programme at that time,” the coach said.
‘‘The PSL has given the clubs no option by sticking to [the decision to] play their fixtures. I hope this matter will be resolved soon so that we can plan properly.”
The bulk of Igesund’s teams over the past few months have been selected mainly from Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, but it remains to be seen if the two Soweto giants will release their players if they are not obliged to do so.
Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter said: ‘‘It has always been our policy to support Bafana. Players are not forced to go to the national team as the African Nations Championship is not a Fifa event.
“But there is a need for a conversation between Igesund and the PSL coaches. It should be just a talk about call-ups. We have to reach some compromise, which must not hurt the clubs.”
Pirates coach Roger de Sa, who will lead his players against Al Ahly in the final of the African Champions League in Egypt today, would not comment fully.
But he was doubtful Pirates would release their players.
Bucs will face a backlog of domestic fixtures following their participation in the Champions League.