Coronavirus: PSL chairman Khoza set to address South Africa on ‘return-to-play’

The season has been suspended for three months due to the deadly virus but the league has always been adamant the remaining matches will be played

The PSL will hold a press conference on Monday to possibly clear the air regarding the resumption of the season. 

In a short statement released on Friday, the league said chairman Dr Irvin Khoza will hold the media briefing at the PSL offices. 

Khoza is expected to address rumours that the season could return later this month. 

Media reports suggest the league proposed July 19 as the return date for competitive football.

However, that is subject to government’s approval who gave the go-ahead for PSL teams to resume training last month. 

There has been silence from the league since the media reports surfaced last week but fresh reports suggested the date was officially put forward and adopted in Tuesday’s board of governors meeting. 

Khoza will also be expected to announce the province or provinces that will stage the remaining matches of the season. 

There are 54 PSL fixtures, 44 NFD matches and three Nedbank Cup games still to play before the season can officially be completed. 

And the PSL aims to finish all the matches in a biologically safe environment in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus. 

Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and North West have declared themselves ready to host the matches. 

And while North West was reported to be leading the race to stage the games last week, Gauteng has emerged as strong favourites as they have more stadiums and facilities to accommodate all the 32 teams. 

This despite Gauteng being the new epicentre for the coronavirus with over 75 000 confirmed positive cases.

Late last month, Safa’s chief medical officer and compliance officer Dr Thulani Ngwenya said one of the factors they will take into consideration when deciding on where the season will be completed is the number of confirmed positive cases, saying the province should not be the hotspot. 

However, it’s unclear if the league has thrown that out of the window with Gauteng now reported to be the preferred province ahead of both KwaZulu-Natal and North West. 

As things stand, there are 13 confirmed positive cases in both the PSL and NFD. 

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