PSL season will be completed by end of August

With tight time restrictions in which to operate, the PSL had to develop a water-tight proposal for government in which they set out tight parameters on how they would return to training and competition amid the pandemic.

Part of the operational measures included in the proposal from the PSL was to reduce the number of players at training and squad sizes on match-days, regular disinfection of venues and testing of players before the resumption of the season.

Bizarrely, Gauteng has been selected as the province that will host the bio-bubble despite the province being the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa.

The PSL remain tight-lipped about the date to resume the league as they have already sent it to the South African Football Association (SAFA) and the Sports Ministry for approval, however due to the process they have to now wait for the green light to resume.

“The six weeks required to finish the season is not a thumb-suck,” Khoza said. “Setting the dates and the fixtures is done by the NSL in line with the NSL handbook that is recognized by the SAFA statues.

“What we have done, which is practice, is submit the dates to SAFA but we haven’t announced a date in public.

“If you have seen a date, that is not our date because we as the PSL haven’t officially announced a date.

“What we have done is submitted our date to SAFA and they have taken those dates to their meeting with the compliance officers, so we just have to wait.”

With six weeks budgeted by the PSL to complete the leagues the timeframe is narrow in terms of coronavirus testing and should an outbreak occur there are plans in place to continue should a team be hit hard by infections.

“There is a squad size that has been allocated to each team where teams can use their Multichoice Diski Challenge (MDC) players or their players that are free agents.

“But what we have emphasised is that we need to finish the season. If you must finish with MDC players, so be it,” Khoza added.