Premier Soccer League (PSL) CEO Trevor Phillips has come up with a much-needed sprinkling of local soccer matches to ease the six-week fixture ”drought” in January and February as a result of the African Nations Cup tournament.
The plan to counter what will be a disturbing, if not crippling, mid-season break was confirmed by Ronnie Schloss on Wednesday, with the PSL financial manager disclosing the relief for local soccer spectators will take the form of a four-team club tournament in which three leading overseas clubs will be involved.
”The fourth side,” said Schloss, ”will be a composite PSL XI made up of both South African and overseas players, with two semifinals and a final taking place over a period of three days.”
The PSL financial manager said the composition of the overseas clubs has still to be finalised, but the league remains confident of securing a field that will whet the appetite of the soccer-starved fans.
But Schloss said bandying about names of some of the top clubs in Europe is ”premature, to say the least”.
”I have to emphasise that nothing has been settled in this respect,” he added, ”and we are waiting for the return of Trevor Phillips from England over the weekend to learn more about how the land lies in this respect.”
Schloss said the wisdom of a black-out of the local PSL programme during the African Nations Cup had been questioned — ”but the decision was basically forced on us”.
”It should not be overlooked,” he added, ”that it will not only be PSL players who are selected for Bafana who will in all likelihood be missing during the African Nations Cup. Many of the Premier League clubs have a strong complement of internationals from other African countries and they will be missing as well.
”And with none of the top teams in action,” said Schloss, ”it was felt it would be best to close ship altogether.” — Sapa