OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 11.20am.
IN a move which threatens the already fragile state of affairs in the Premier Soccer League, Sundowns have turned down an offer to play in the Vodacom Challenge.
The competition, an unofficial multi-million rand involving top soccer teams from all over Africa — and possibly teams from countries outside the continent — is the brainchild of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
The two clubs, who have been accused of rogueish behaviour after threatening to withdraw from the upcoming BP Top Eight and Charity Extravaganza tournaments, landed a lucrative R120-million sponsorship deal with cellular service provider Vodacom last week.
PSL club owners made no secret of their disapproval, saying that if Chiefs and Pirates “don’t want to be part of the League, they must withdraw their membership and form their own League.”
Sundowns have, however, denied that their decision to turn down the offer of playing in the tournament is a case of “tit for tat.”
Sundowns vice-chairman Angelo Tsichlas told The Citizen that the club is “honoured that the organisers felt we could enhance the tournament, but the simple truth of the matter is that unless we want our players to compete for 13 months of the year, we had to decline the offer.”
Tsichlas said that the club’s commitments in the African Champions League and other fixtures in July mean that the players “will be lucky to have a two-week break in between seasons.”
Sundowns’ withdrawal will possibly force a re-think on the format of the competition, as the plan was originally to have Sundowns, Chiefs and Pirates as the spearhead to face the challenge of strong foreign clubs.