Cape Town — Just over a week ago, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that stadiums will be opened for professional sports events at 50% capacity.
Instead of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) jumping for joy, they issued a killjoy statement saying the matter will be discussed by the executive committee to consider the extent to which the Covid-19 regulations can or should be adapted.
The response of PSL's mother body, the South African Football Association (SAFA) was in complete contrast.
‘’We are happy that the government has opened up the space for fans to go back to the stadiums. We welcome that decision,’’ said Dany Jordaan, the president of SAFA.
Earlier this year, Irvin Khoza, the chairman of the PSL, spoke about the great expense incurred by clubs for security at matches. Although he did not say it outright, he was intimating that having fans in a stadium is vastly expensive.
Since the PSL is a football organization it is hard to fathom why they are not overjoyed that fans can return to stadiums, and that matches no longer have to be played behind closed doors.
Two years have passed since the outbreak of Covid-19 which caused sport to come to a grinding halt worldwide. Months later sport was resumed, and even later fans were allowed back into the stadiums.
In the wake of Ramaphosa's announcement, South African sport can start working towards pre-pandemic situations in the stadiums. As SAFA pointed out, that situation is hugely beneficial to many stakeholders.
Since football resumed there was an alarming drop in interest by the general public. Matches were televised but mostly on South Africa's pay-television channel SuperSport. This is an expensive service and out of reach of most fans, who can only follow matches that are broadcast on SABC, the national broadcaster.
It hasn't helped that over the years that the SABC could not buy TV rights from the PSL. Instead, Multichoice have forked out funds to buy TV rights. Multichoice also sponsors the PSL's domestic league, the DStv Premiership.
Multichoice also owns a DStv Premiership team in SuperSport United, and their chairman Stan Matthews serves on the executive committee. The PSL's tardiness in allowing fans back to the stadium may well be that the PSL would like the status quo to remain; fans can only watch matches on TV.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi recently said the reluctance to allow fans back in stadiums may be a strategy to boost pay-TV subscriptions.
Apart from the matter of discussing the return of fans to stadiums, there are a host of issues which is likely to come up for discussion. The matter of reviewing the arbitration outcome of the Kaizer Chiefs saga has captured the imagination of the soccer fraternity.
The PSL have come under fire from various quarters for some time now, but little has changed.
The chairman of TS Galaxy Tim Sukazi recently made shocking allegations against the PSL following his side’s loss against SuperSport United. He feels referees are being mandated to make unfair calls against his side.
Sukazi has also questioned how the PSL's acting CEO Mato Madlala is allowed to own a club. According to him, under the PSL rules, that is a conflict of interest.
There is also the matter of Cape Town City chairman John Comitis who has cried foul after the SAFA arbitrator Nazeer Cassim SC ruled in four of Kaizer Chiefs during the recent arbitration.
“It is the credibility of the league that is at stake,” said Comitis, adding that it was a "dark" day for South African football.
It was an attack on SAFA's arbitration process and it is a matter that may not sit well with the PSL who agreed with the arbitration process from the outset.
IOL Sport