On Tuesday night, one of the most exciting Absa Premiership fixtures, Mamelodi Sundowns vs Orlando Pirates was supposed to take place at the Loftus Stadium but unfortunately and understandably so, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) has decided to suspend its fixtures until further notice.
The decision was announced after the PSL executive committee meeting on Monday just a day after the announcement of stringent measures by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the audio below, PSL chairman Irvin Khoza says they will be guided by Thursday’s meeting of the Board of Governors (BOG) on a long term response to this coronavirus epidemic.
Thursday’s meeting will be preceded by engagements with other stakeholders like the Ministry of Sport and Police.
In the audio below, according to Khoza, it’s in that meeting where they will be making a decision about the way forward.
The season is left with about seven to eight games both in the PSL and also Glad Africa Championship programme.
The Nedbank Cup is still in the semi-final stages, the league game at Loftus between Sundowns and Pirates was going to pit no.2 versus no.3 on the log and Khoza revealed on Monday that the game had already sold 12 000 tickets.
In the audio below, Khoza has a message for those who had already bought tickets to this game.
In other leagues around the world (Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine), professional football continues to be played behind closed doors.
Khoza says with the limit of 100 people gathering, they still need clarity on what it means for their options going forward. – Report by Velile Mnyandu
Dr Khoza:
We have called for a meeting of the PSL Board of Governors on Thursday that will deliberate on this. It’s important that we take a decision that is in the best interest of football and the nation. pic.twitter.com/QAYV38OObe
— Official PSL (@OfficialPSL) March 16, 2020
