Teams await return to action
Will the 2019/20 soccer season be completed? This is the question to which Mpumalanga-based fans desperately want an answer to.
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Last Friday the minister of the National Department of Sport, Nathi Mthethwa, gave the go-ahead for the soccer teams to resume training.
Matches will not be allowed on level 3 lockdown.
If, when or how matches will resume has also not been decided by government, Safa and the respective leagues.
Football in South Africa came to an abrupt end when all sport in the county was stopped on March 15 due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Fifty four matches still need to be played to complete the 2019/20 Absa PSL season. Teams have between six and nine matches each to play.
Kaiser Chiefs top the log with 48 points after 22 matches. Mamelodi Sundowns are second on 44 points after 21 matches. It is likely that if the league resumes, one of these two teams will lift the trophy.
However, SuperSport United, Orlando Pirates, Maritzburg United and Wits all have a mathematical possibility of winning the PSL. This would mean that both Chiefs and Sundowns would have to lose most of their remaining game, which is extremely unlikely.
The Nedbank Cup has reached the semi-finals stage and also needs to be completed.
The last professional soccer match played this year took place on Sunday March 15, the Nedbank quarter-final between TS Sporting and Bloemfontein Celtic at KaNyamazane Stadium, just hours before President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of a state of disaster.
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Celtic, Mamelodi Sundowns, Baroka FC and Wits remain in the knockout competition.
The GladAfrica Championship was also suspended and needs to resume to conclude the season. This competition has a strong local interest with Mpumalanga teams, Mbombela United, TS Galaxy and TS Sporting, competing.
Although it is unlikely that Galaxy will be relegated, they are not out of the danger zone. The team are 12th on 28 points after 24 games.
Sporting are placed 13th on the log with 24 points from 23 games and need to win most of their remaining games to be safe from relegation.
United are in 14th place with 23 points from 24 games and will need to fight hard to avoid relegation. They must still play six matches.