The current campaign has been suspended since mid-March but new developments suggest it could be declared null and void later this week
The 2019-20 PSL season could be scrapped if the league’s executive committee members have their way, reports City Press.
On Tuesday, the PSL held an urgent board of governors meeting following a statement from the South African Football Association (Safa) that competitive football can return in the first week of August.
The league in their statement on Wednesday said it will engage all stakeholders on the way forward as it was clear from Safa’s statement the season would not be completed before August 31.
Chairman Dr Irvin Khoza said in his press conference on Monday they will need at least six weeks for the season to conclude – hence they proposed July 18 as the return date.
PSL acting CEO Mato Madlala said nothing has changed from the statement released by the league on Wednesday.
“As we said in our press release, the chairman is currently engaging all the stakeholders on the way forward,” Madlala told City Press.
Furthermore, City Press reports Madlala said another board of governors meeting would be held once Khoza has concluded his discussions with the relevant stakeholders.
An official who spoke to the publication on condition of anonymity said the season is as good as over, adding that what’s left is for representatives from the 32 clubs to deal with the issue of championship and relegation.
“Consider the season over. What’s left is for us to outline the way forward regarding the championship and relegation,” said the official.
An unnamed club boss who also spoke to City Press expects talks between Khoza and sponsors to take longer and indicated that the majority of club bosses have called for the season to be declared null and void.
“The information we got is that the board of governors [meeting] will possibly take place late next week because it sounds like discussions with the sponsors are not easy and will be prolonged,” said the club boss.
“Most club bosses are of the view that we should call the season null and void without declaring any winners or losers. The issue now is to deal with any legal issues which might arise.”
Another unnamed club owner admitted the situation is complicated because if Kaizer Chiefs are crowned PSL champions then the same should apply for Ajax Cape Town who lead the NFD standings, and further added that an 18-team PSL league isn’t an option as it would create more problems.
“I think if we agree that Kaizer Chiefs can’t be declared champions, then we can do the same with Ajax. But we will go through the nitty-gritty at our next meeting,” the said club owner revealed.
“For teams to agree to this would mean cutting their monthly grants and I don’t see that happening. It would mean clubs get less [money] than what they have been getting to fund the other two teams.
“This would mean the first division (NFD) would be two teams short as there won’t be clubs promoted from the ABC Motsepe League. This would create an unnecessary imbalance in the leagues,” concluded the unnamed club owner.
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