Ntuthuko Maphumulo
soccer
The 2000/2001 season has been one of the longest on record, with many controversial incidents, displays of great soccer and the tragedy of the Ellis Park stampede that left 43 people dead.
The championship race is over but the Premier Soccer League (PSL) season is not. There are two games still outstanding the replay of the abandoned Ellis Park game between Kaizer Chiefs and new champions Orlando Pirates, and the replay between Bush Bucks and Bloemfontein Celtic ordered by the league’s disciplinary committee after Celtic fielded a suspended player.
The latter game was supposed to take place on Wednesday, but was cancelled because the PSL board of governors has appealed to the South African Football Association against the decision.
The replay has become a thorny issue that has to be solved firstly in the boardroom and then on the field.
That means Manning Rangers who lost 0-1 to Chiefs on Wednesday and Celtic will have to wait for the appeal decision before either knows who will be relegated with African Wanderers.
The teams are currently locked on 34 points, with Rangers ahead on goal difference. If Celtic replay the game and earn any points from it, Rangers will go down. The appeal will be held before the end of the weekend.
The replay of the derby match between Chiefs and Pirates is to be played on June 10, but the venue has not yet been decided.
On Sunday the MTN first division will have a championship-deciding game between Amazulu, winners of the coastal stream league, and Black Leopards, winners of the inland stream, at King’s Park soccer stadium.
ENDS