The Premier Soccer League has acted with uncharacteristic speed in rearranging Friday night’s abandoned PSL game between Mamelodi Sundowns and Jomo Cosmos at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria — in the process providing suspended Brazilian stars Vuyo Mere and Shere Lekgothoane with a reprieve for Saturday’s Telkom Knockout final against Kaizer Chiefs.
The Sundowns-Cosmos clash — terminated without a goal having been scored a minute after half-time due to lightning, and abandoned 20 minutes later after referee Daniel Bennett ruled the pitch too saturated to continue — is now scheduled for 4pm at Loftus on Monday.
And no one could have viewed the PSL’s swift action with greater delight than Mere and Lekgothoane, whose suspensions will now be completed in Monday’s game, thereby making them eligible to play in Saturday’s Telkom final at Loftus.
”But this was not the main motivation behind the decision to play as early as Monday,” said Sundowns administrative executive officer Afzal Khan. ”There is a log-jam of fixtures for the remainder of the season in view of the lengthy break while the African Nations Cup tournament is staged in Ghana in January and February — and we felt Monday would be an appropriate time to ease this congestion.”
Khan said both Sundowns and Cosmos have approved the new date — and playing the game immediately would help the PSL in its effort to create a balance of fixtures for all the PSL teams before the Christmas break. — Sapa