The coronavirus pandemic has grounded the whole world to a virtual standstill save for essential services. Sadly entertainment in the form of football and other sporting codes though the bosses see it as business have to wait until the situation is declared safe for all of its stakeholders to participate.
While the fretfulness continues authorities of different federations and sporting bodies are making assumptions of when they think action could be back on our screens or different sporting arenas though the World Health Organisation has not hinted on anything regards that. So it remains speculative.
With that said lets shift our focus to our domestic league especially football. It is unclear on what is likely to happen because ordinarily the PSL season ends in May and then June and July we normally have play-offs and in August the new season starts. The same can be said about amateur football run by the South African Football Association. We are in April now and by the time the 21 days of lockdown come to an end it will be the 16th of April and assuming the President lifts the lockdown and lif goes back to normal – will it be normal to allow fans back at the stadium and players to get back to playing football? It remains hazy as to what will happen but again assuming the President extends the lockdown what will the football authorities do. Remember the current football rules do not make provision for such a scenario and it will have ripple effect right down to the last league. As things stand, if Kaizer Chiefs are crowned champions then it means Black Leopards get relegated and Amazulu go for play-offs with Moroka Swallows and Uthongathi while Ajax Cape Town replaces Leopards. The rules however say winners are confirmed when they have completed the games each team ought to have played because Mamelodi Sundowns, Supersport United, Orlando Pirates and even Maritzburg United can argue that they could have usrped Chiefs if they had played their games to a finish and similarly Leopards can argue they too could have survived the axe. Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila like JDR Stars and Free State Stars amongst other could also lodge a credible and legit appeal according to the rules.
We await to see how our football authorities will deal with this and elsewhere. Will FIFA and IFAB step in?
