The latest bizarre controversy to engulf South African soccer — whether spectators will be allowed to watch the eagerly awaited Premier Soccer League (PSL) game between Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns at the FNB Stadium on Sunday — on Tuesday became, in the words of author Lewis Carroll, curiouser and curiouser.
The PSL disciplinary committee has ordered Chiefs to play their home games against Sundowns and Black Leopards without spectators as part of punitive action for the ugly scenes of vandalism and violence that broke out when Amakhosi lost to Bloemfontein Celtic in a Supa8 match.
But now an appeal to postpone the punishment meted out to Chiefs has been sanctioned by the PSL for Wednesday evening — providing what is promised will be a final ruling on the matter.
”At this precise moment,” said PSL prosecutor Zola Majavu on Tuesday, ”the two-game ban on spectators at FNB Stadium stands and Chiefs will need to provide good cause why it should not be put into immediate effect for the games against Sundowns and Leopards.”
Chiefs earlier appealed the sentence to a South African Football Association (Safa) tribunal for judgement last Sunday, but this case was postponed until the coming weekend following a request from Amakhosi.
Chiefs then promptly announced via the club’s website that spectators — who might amount to a number in the vicinity of 50 000 in more normal circumstances — would be allowed into the FNB Stadium after all.
But the PSL immediately shot this down this and announced that the fact that an appeal was still in motion did not affect the original disciplinary-committee sentence.
Chiefs then lodged another appeal to the disciplinary, this time that the ban on spectators should be postponed until after the Safa appeal is heard — a chain of events that even Carroll’s Mad Hatter would conclude is curiouser and curiouser. — Sapa