PSL suspends all football activities for this week due to #COVID-19

The Premier Soccer League has announced the suspension of all football matches and activities for this week and the weekend, pending a full decision on the way forward after consultations with the league’s Board of Governors (BoG), the clubs and sponsors and other organisations of interest.

This was announced by the chairperson of the PSL Dr Irvin ‘Iron Duke’ Khoza following a meeting of the executive committee of the league on 16 March at the offices of the league in Parktown.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Khoza, who is also the chairperson of Orlando Pirates Football Club, said the outcome of the exco meeting was to suspend matches that were due to take place today, 17 March, and those that follow on the weekend.

“This is in line with the guidelines issued by the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, as part of a national strategy to fight the spread of the virus, and as the custodians of the professional league, we have seen it fit to protect not just our players, coaches, fans and other match officials but the entire members of the public in our country.

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“We have decided to suspend all matches for this week and those that were due to take place over the weekend. This is a precautionary prelude to a more comprehensive decision that will be taken on Thursday, 19 March, after a meeting of the BoG. This is the body that will map out the way forward for our professional football,” Khoza said.

The PSL chairperson said the fight against the spread of the coronavirus was not only a government fight but a fight that everybody must be involved in. “The government only sets the tone and then we take it up from there.

“One of a range of the precautionary measures that have been put in place was to ban a gathering of more than 100 people and as you know football takes multitudes of fans to the stadium and this is a potentially great danger for the spread of the virus,” he added.

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Some of the matches affected included the league’s second spot clash between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, which was due to be played today, 17 March, and the table-topping Kaizer Chiefs versus Bidvest Wits on 18 March. There were going to be other matches taking place over the weekend and all those have also been suspended.

The Reserve League of the PSL, better known as the MultiChoice Diski Challenge, have all been suspended for now and the future of this league will also be part of a comprehensive plan and way forward from the BoG meeting.

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