PSL, Safa still walking on a very shaky bridge

Now that we have the dates for the restart of the Premier Soccer League, everything is settled, right? Wrong. We might yet come across another shaky bridge that we will have to find ways to safely get across.

It might reignite the squabbling between Safa and the PSL yet again. The issue that everyone seems to have conveniently forgotten is that when the GladAfrica Championship wraps up on 30 August 30, two teams would have been relegated. This means two teams from the Safa-run ABC Motsepe League will have to come up and take the two spaces in the league above them.

This might lead to problems as Safa may not have restated their leagues by then. Safa have been insistent on restating when lockdown has been reduced to Level 1 and that is not on the horizon as yet.

By the looks of things, l Level one may only come in October, or as some have suggested, early next year. Now I don’t see the PSL waiting until then to start a new season. I believe the PSL’ new season may start at the end of September or early October.

How will the problem be fixed then? I don’t know yet, as Safa, despite numerous calls by the media and public to show leadership in their own league like they have been trying to do with the Absa Premiership and GladAfrica Championship, are yet to say anything.

Amateur clubs are yet to return to training and I don’t see them finishing their leagues and playoffs in time to determine the two teams that will go up a level. The races in most of their leagues were wide open when football was halted in March.

I hope talks between the two organisations on how the matter will be handled have already started. We can’t afford another fight that does absolutely nothing to take the game forward. A solution may be to not relegate anyone in the Championship, which would be very lucky for the two teams who end up being saved.

Or, they could start the Championship with 14 teams, which I believe would work in the PSL’s favour as it would mean less expenses and save them R12-million in grants.

Or, this is quite extreme or perhaps not allowed by the rules, auction off the two Championship spots and any team can buy their way into the country’s first division. That’s probably unprecedented but it could work well as a financially viable club would get spots in our paid ranks.

Whatever they do, as long as they don’t delay the start of next season like they did to the restart of the current one, I’ll be happy. And, I am almost certain that there are hundreds of others who, like me, would not stand for another month without football.

I am a firm believer that football will help with social distancing as people are more likely to stay home and watch games, review shows and repeats on TV then going out unnecessarily.