Chiefs, PSL opt out of court clash

KAIZER Chiefs and the Premier

Soccer League (PSL) will not proceed to the South Gauteng High Court today for a long-awaited court case which could have made a mockery of professional football in South Africa.

Instead, the two parties have reached an agreement, and the high court officials will make the announcement this morning.

The National Soccer League

(NSL), the PSL’s trading name, had decided to approach the high court with the view to overturn the arbitration outcome by Nazeer Cassim, the Safa-appointed official. Cassim ruled that the two Premiership matches that Chiefs failed to honour should be replayed.

The matches in question were Chiefs’ two league games against Cape Town City at FNB Stadium and Golden Arrows in Durban during December last year.

While the NSL’s appeal was set aside for today, the PSL decided that it would carry out the order of the Safa arbitrator and play the matches. The PSL found two convenient dates and the matches were played. As it turned out, Chiefs lost both matches 2-1 in the space of four days.

The PSL agreed to play the matches with the proviso that should it win the high-court appeal, the result of the matches would be declared null and void. Also, the two opposing teams, City and Arrows, would be declared 3-0 winners.

In early December, Chiefs suffered a Covid-19 outbreak of massive proportions and just over 30 players and members of the technical staff fell victim. The club was unable to operate and duly informed the

PSL that it could not field a team, and it would be guided by health protocols and the SA government’s latest Covid-19 health regulations.

After a few days’ silence, the PSL’s football department and the league’s executive committee dismissed Amakhosi’s request to postpone the games even though the club was physically unable to do so. The football department and the league’s executive committee pointed to an earlier ruling that matches would not be called off for Covid-related reasons.

What the PSL did not point out was that they did not foresee a time when 30-50 people at one club would be struck by Covid-19. The ruling was fine when clubs had the odd player or two down with the virus.

Elsewhere in the football world, matches were postponed after several players at one club took ill.

However, since the PSL had already taken decisions against clubs that previously defaulted, it dug its head in the sand and refused to consider Chiefs’ request.

After the arbitration ruling, Safa were left with bloodied noses and appealed to the high court.

After Chiefs lost both matches that were replayed, they had nothing to gain from winning at the high court. The only difference is that Arrows and City will be awarded

3-0 outcomes instead of their 2-1 margins. In both cases, it will improve their goal differences and that could be significant at the end of the season clubs should teams finish with the same number of points.