Safa avoids confrontation with PSL over players
JOBURG - The NFD, ABC Motsepe and SAB league players will now feature on the big stage of football.
The South African Football Association (Safa) has opted for a non-confrontational approach in its battle with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) over the call-up of players for national duty.
Safa CEO Dennis Mumble alluded to this when he addressed attendees at the launch of the SAB League for the 2017/18 season at the World of Beer in the Johannesburg CBD.
Although Safa has always avoided confrontation with premier soccer teams in its quest to acquire players for national duty, football observers believe this was unavoidable in the long run as the tug-of-war continues between the two football bodies in the country. Safa is the mother body of all things football in the country while the league runs professional football in the country and is the custodian of professional players.
Mumble said they had sought a way to ease pressure on the league for the release of players for national duty.
“Safa has over the years got involved in more and more international tournaments and this has placed a huge strain on the PSL and hence we have decided to segment these tournaments so that we don’t rely solely on the league for players to do national duty.”
In future, Mumble said tournaments such as the Championship of African Nations (Chan) and the Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) tournament will source its players from the SAB League, the ABC Motsepe League and the National First Division.
“I am certain this will go a long way to ease the pressure on the PSL while at the same time affording us [Safa] the ability to develop a pool of players for our various national squads. It will also help in the early grooming of players for international duty.”
The Safa number two, Dr Danny Jordaan said they had enough scouts who would go around the country to identify players in these various leagues and ensure that ‘we get the cream of the crop that we will also groom as future stars of Bafana Bafana’.
Mumble said this also opened the door for players in these leagues to also shine on the international stage and also have something to play for in their various leagues as opposed to just playing for promotion to the next rung of the football ladder.
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