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/ 25 November 2007
Bottom of the log before Saturday night’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) game, Thanda Royal Zulu achieved what not many PSL teams have managed — they left Cape Town with a clear-cut 2-0 victory over Santos and rose above Jomo Cosmos by a fractional goal-difference advantage.
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/ 24 November 2007
The sultry Durban weather did not deter Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs from entertaining a capacity crowd with four fantastic goals in a pulsating Premier Soccer League match at the Absa Stadium on Saturday. Chiefs striker Mabhudi Khanyeza scored one of the quickest goals, in 17 seconds, to be seen in South Africa.
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/ 24 November 2007
SuperSport United beat Moroka Swallows 2-1 in their Premier Soccer League game played at Germiston Stadium on Friday night, and Bidvest Wits beat Bloemfontein Celtic 2-0 in their match. Part of the game in Germiston was played in heavy rain and referee Robert Smith was forced to stop the match for 15 minutes.
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/ 24 November 2007
Lightning resulted in Daniel Bennett halting the goalless Premier Soccer League game between Mamelodi Sundowns and Jomo Cosmos a minute after half-time at a sparsely filled Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Friday night — and after a rain inspection 20 minutes later, the referee called off the proceedings.
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/ 16 November 2007
Premier Soccer League CEO Kjetil Siem may not be at the receiving end of the league’s R70-million commission payout controversy, but his wish to see a conclusion to the continuous saga and move on — because it ruins both the sponsor’s and the league’s commercial reputation — will not be granted any time soon.
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/ 14 November 2007
The protracted guessing game is over with the much-anticipated announcement by the Premier Soccer League on Tuesday that the Telkom Knockout final between Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday December 1 will be staged at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
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/ 12 November 2007
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund faces arguably the toughest test of all Premier Soccer League (PSL) coaches as he guides his team towards a third consecutive league title as well as a third cup final this year. ”The better the team becomes, the more challenges you face and have to accept,” Igesund said on Monday.
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/ 10 November 2007
In what has generally been a bleak and frustrating season, Kaizer Chiefs discovered a ray of sunshine at a scorchingly hot Mmabatho Stadium on Saturday afternoon and qualified for the Telkom Knockout final with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic.
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/ 8 November 2007
Mamelodi Sundowns are without a doubt the favourites in Saturday’s Telkom Knockout semifinal clash against Free State Stars at the Absa Stadium in Kimberley. The defending league champs knocked out Golden Arrows and Thanda Royal Zulu 3-0 and 3-1 respectively en route to the Telkom semis.
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/ 8 November 2007
Some of the stands at the curious, if aesthetically shaped, Mmabatho Stadium are facing away from the pitch. It would, therefore, seem an appropriate venue for Kaizer Chiefs to tackle Bloemfontein Celtic in a critical Telkom Knockout semifinal on Saturday, with the direction in which the troubled Amakhosi are heading equally blurred.
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/ 7 November 2007
Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has called for common sense to prevail in the quest to build a winning team for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Brazilian named two squads for games against the United States and Canada — but due to the Premier Soccer League schedule, the local players he selected will arrive late for training.
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/ 5 November 2007
A television exposé of horrific conditions in South Africa’s prisons has earned Hazel Friedman this year’s prestigious Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award. The national winners in various categories were announced at a ceremony held at Vodaworld in Midrand on Sunday evening.
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/ 1 November 2007
It might not have been the kind of ”Hand of God” goal that Diego Maradona immortalised, but battling Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns secured a much-needed 1-0 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic at the Free State Rugby Stadium on Wednesday night with what could be termed ”a gift from the gods”.
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/ 31 October 2007
Call it an amazing coincidence or something worth a disbelieving mention in Ripley’s Believe it or Not. But with Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs kept apart and drawn to play Free State Stars and Bloemfontein Celtic in Telkom Knockout semifinals in 10 days, finding the match-ups reversed in league games on Wednesday is undoubtedly a mathematical phenomenon.
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/ 31 October 2007
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has set aside R70-million with which to pay members as a ”token of gratitude” for their part in securing rights and sponsorship deals. The amount would be ”apportioned to the members of the negotiating team and other role players” and would be a one-off payment.
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/ 27 October 2007
Those in Pretoria might have ignored the inclement weather in massive numbers to pay homage to the triumphant Springbok rugby players, but Mamelodi Sundowns’ recent sketchy form was enough to keep the fans indoors on Friday night as the Premier Soccer League champions regained much of their poise and form in beating Thanda Royal Zulu 3-1.
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/ 26 October 2007
Hardly a month after Finance Minister Trevor Manuel cast aspersions on the integrity of local football administrators, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) has suffered another setback with the finding that Mamelodi Sundowns were guilty of forging the signature of Jose Torrealba to extend the striker’s contract.
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/ 26 October 2007
Oom Os du Randt — the Springbok loosehead prop — is one of the most experienced sports stars in the country. At the ripe old age of 35 and with two World Cup winners’ medals around his neck, he has a lot to pass on to younger players, especially those who do not know how to handle success and end up in self-destruct mode.
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/ 22 October 2007
The temperature of coach Muhsin Ertugral appeared to exceed boiling point as Kaizer Chiefs extended their winless Premier Soccer League streak to five games during a dour goalless draw against Platinum Stars at the sun-scorched Olympia Park in Rustenburg on Sunday afternoon.
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/ 22 October 2007
After watching — and fanatically celebrating — the Springboks’ emphatic victory in the Rugby World Cup final, the Premier Soccer League game between Moroka Swallows and Black Leopards on Sunday paled in comparison. A 91st-minute goal had Swallows coach Ian Gorowa obviously relieved at getting the three points.
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/ 16 October 2007
Despite having a battalion of 43 players at his disposal, Orlando Pirates coach Owen da Gama faces a dilemma as his team prepare for a Premier Soccer League game against Bloemfontein Celtic on Friday night. Pirates captain Lehlohonolo Seema, Lebohang Mokoena, Kelebogile Mabe and Bheki Khumalo could miss Friday’s clash.
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/ 10 October 2007
Bottom of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) log and booted out of the Telkom Knockout competition in the first round, Orlando Pirates’ woes continued when they were handed an effective R200 000 fine. ”Pirates were fined R150 000 on charges of crowd misbehaviour and bringing the league into disrepute,” PSL general manager Andrew Dipela announced on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel says he has been assured by Absa there will be no individual enrichment in its sponsorship deal with the Premier Soccer League (PSL). ”We have the assurance that Absa would do everything in its power to [ensure] that the money is used as intended, for the advancement of soccer in this country,” he said on Friday.
By now Finance Minister Trevor Manuel must be conceding — privately — his allegation that Absa corruptly won the right to use its name for the premiership championship was as hasty as it was uninformed. OnTuesday, the Premier Soccer League dismissed out of hand that some of its executive committee members had received or stood to receive a 10% commission.
Even with a new man at the helm in acclaimed former Platinum Stars coach Owen de Gama, the Orlando Pirates ship continued to flounder at Ellis Park on Wednesday night as the Buccaneers slumped to a 5-4 penalty shoot-out defeat against Benoni Premier United after a dramatic Telkom Knockout game finished 1-1 after extra-time.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) should involve players’ unions in their deliberations on commission for television and sponsorship, the South African Football Players’ Union said on Wednesday. The PSL has come under fire this week over claims that it intends paying internal negotiators 10% commissions on a R1,6-billion television rights deal and a R500-million sponsorship deal.
Premier Soccer League (PSL) executive members have not been paid commission for their part in the R1,6-billion television rights deal or the R500-million Absa sponsorship deal. The PSL had not even formally decided yet whether it would pay its negotiators any commission at all, said chairperson Irvin Khoza.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has urged National Assembly sport committee chairperson Butana Komphela to have the Premier Soccer League (PSL) explain why executive members should get a R50-million ”commission” to secure a R500-million sponsorship deal.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has expressed disappointment with Finance Minister Trevor Manuel for involving himself in its affairs and has written to Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile, asking him to intervene, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday.
It has been described by one newspaper as ”splitting the Premier Soccer League [PSL] down the middle.” But what Finance Minister Trevor Manuel described as ”morally reprehensible” commission payments amounting to hundreds of millions of rands to PSL officials has seemingly united 45-million South Africans in outraged opposition to the professional soccer organisation.
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/ 28 September 2007
In the 1980s an unknown midfielder-cum-striker, Owen da Gama, came off the bench for Moroka Swallows to score in a 2-1 victory in the Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates. Little did he know then that he would one day be the Bucs’ head coach.
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/ 28 September 2007
The Premier Soccer League’s (PSL) newly announced R500-million sponsorship deal with Absa and the five-year R1,6-billion broadcast deal it struck with SuperSport International confirm South Africa as one of the richest football leagues in Africa and the developing world.