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SA football executives are struggling to come up with a viable post-lockdown plan to finish the season.
The PSL is in a fix.
Thursday night’s announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the lockdown, aimed at curbing the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, had been extended by a further 14 days, has pushed the league into an even tighter corner than before.
With 108 Absa Premiership matches remaining in the 2019/20 campaign, the PSL had already made provisions for the programme to go beyond the May deadline, and it had hoped to conclude everything by the end of June.
This included the season-ending Nedbank Cup, which is left with three fixtures – the two semifinals and the final.
The outstanding league games of the 16 Premiership division teams translates into 54 fixtures.
Now that the initial 21-day nationwide lockdown has been extended until the end of this month, the PSL programme will remain on hold while the executives work out a master plan on how to slot in a total of 111 league games in two months – provided they get the green light from government to resume matches when the lockdown ends.
PSL acting chief executive Mato Madlala could not provide answers when City Press reached her this week for comment on their plans.
She said only the chairperson, Irvin Khoza, could talk on the matter.
“It’s not an administrative matter, so my hands are tied on this one. Only the chairperson can respond to that,” said Madlala on Friday.
Efforts to reach Khoza were fruitless as he did not respond to calls or a text message sent to him.
However, just before the president’s speech on Thursday, Madlala had told City Press that the league would take its cue from government on the way forward.
“We find ourselves in a difficult situation because we can’t even plan. No one knows what is going to happen. We will be guided by government,” Madlala said.
“We don’t know where we stand at the moment because there are many factors involved.
“It is difficult to plan when you are in lockdown and we are in the same boat. Let’s wait and see what’s happening next,” she said.
While Madlala was cagey with details in a follow-up call, City Press has established through those who are privy to the new developments that the PSL executives have been hard at work behind the scenes to ensure that they are ready as soon as the lockdown is over.
According to our sources, the PSL leadership were even open to the possibility of the 2019/20 season ending in July or August, while the new term could start in September.
Due the uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 crisis, Fifa has authorised leagues to extend their seasons and transfer windows, meaning the player transfer windows for the new season would also be moved forward.
Because the season started in August last year, the 16 premier division teams had already played 372 league games when the season was disrupted by the global health crisis early last month.
All the Premiership sides play a combined 480 games in a single campaign over nine months. When the league programme was paused last month, most sides had fewer than 10 matches remaining.
Kaizer Chiefs were top of the log, four points ahead of chasers Mamelodi Sundowns.
Initially, the PSL had hoped to play some of the remaining matches behind closed doors, but the plan fell through because of government’s strict lockdown regulations that bars social gatherings.
At its board of governors meeting last month, the PSL established a task team to look at different scenarios regarding how to rescue what is left of this season’s programme and then give its recommendations to the executive.
It is likely that the PSL will follow similar ideas or catch-up models of their European counterparts such as the English Premier League (PL) and the Spanish La Liga. Both leagues are also hoping to resume once their lockdowns are lifted.
The PL leadership this week outlined a seven-point master plan with the hope of concluding their programme in August.
Calculations on how their games could pan out show that it would mean 433 matches would be played in less than two months.
The PL, with a 20-team league, was also left with fewer than 10 games to conclude their programme, with runaway leaders Liverpool 25 points ahead of second-placed Manchester City.
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