The Premier Soccer League (PSL) on Thursday vowed to take action against Premiership clubs fielding players whose contracts have expired.
Addressing a media briefing at the PSL headquarters in Doornfontein, league CEO Trevor Phillips said the players whose contracts have expired are not permitted to participate in any official fixture.
This comes after several club owners took a swipe at the league’s administration department for refusing to register the players whose contracts expired at the end of May.
The club owners were arguing that the current 2003/04 soccer season was initially scheduled to end at the end of May.
The domestic fixtures were extended to June to accommodate the African Nations Cup (Afcon), which took place in Tunisia at the beginning of the year.
This resulted in some of the matches being postponed for the duration of Afcon. A number of clubs, including Kaizer Chiefs and Wits University, were affected by the postponements after they had three or more players selected for Afcon.
According to Phillips, the club owners knew as early as last December that the season was going to end in June and should have ensured that the contracts of their players were amended.
”Unfortunately the clubs would like to apportion their inefficiency in matters of contracts with their players to the league. That is totally unacceptable,” said Phillips.
”Contracts are signed between the club and the player. The contracts have specific dates on which they expire. The league is not involved in determining the extent or otherwise on the contents of the agreement.”
Phillips said the best way to deal with the problem is for the Confederation of African Football to organise the Afcon in line with the rest of the world in June.
”Otherwise we’ll have to change our season,” added Phillips. — Sapa