The PSL & SAFA need to find common ground ASAP
It's going to be a very nervy period for Kaizer Chiefs fans over the next 24 hours as Absa Premiership bosses decide whether the current PSL season will be canned or completed.
This comes after earlier in the week FIFA granted the continents richest league an extension to get their 54 league games and three Nedbank Cup games finished.
It was announced a few weeks ago that the league was ready to on 18 July and they had ear-marked Gauteng as the bio-bubble where all games and teams would be based, but this was shot down by the South African Football Association.
SAFA declared that their match officials needed more time to get match fit and that 1 August was probably the closest that they would ready.
Former FIFA and Premiership referee and league official Ace Ncobo told AFP that these claims were "obstructionist".
"I mentor some of the referees, speak to them frequently, and know for a fact that most of them are ready," he said.
"They kept fit during the coronavirus lockdown by exercising individually. The only thing they need now is to undergo COVID-19 tests."
Sponsors and broadcasters, who are vital to the survival of the league, have expressed their eagerness to get the league back up and running, however the stalling seems to be coming from the national body.
It's suggested that this tactic is a way for them to regain control of football in the country.
Long-serving official Khulu Sibiya from SuperSport United admits that "the relationship between the league and Safa is very, very fragile.
"We must end this them-and-us situation which creates continuous friction that benefits nobody and sets South African football backwards," he told AFP.
It was announced a few weeks ago that the league was ready to on 18 July and they had ear-marked Gauteng as the bio-bubble where all games and teams would be based, but this was shot down by the South African Football Association.
SAFA declared that their match officials needed more time to get match fit and that 1 August was probably the closest that they would ready.
Former FIFA and Premiership referee and league official Ace Ncobo told AFP that these claims were "obstructionist".
"I mentor some of the referees, speak to them frequently, and know for a fact that most of them are ready," he said.
"They kept fit during the coronavirus lockdown by exercising individually. The only thing they need now is to undergo COVID-19 tests."
Sponsors and broadcasters, who are vital to the survival of the league, have expressed their eagerness to get the league back up and running, however the stalling seems to be coming from the national body.
It's suggested that this tactic is a way for them to regain control of football in the country.
Long-serving official Khulu Sibiya from SuperSport United admits that "the relationship between the league and Safa is very, very fragile.
"We must end this them-and-us situation which creates continuous friction that benefits nobody and sets South African football backwards," he told AFP.
Not only is the pressure on for the teams at the top but the relegation threatened teams face an anxious wait.