Chiefs set to appeal PSL decision to reject request to have matches postponed

Kaizer Chiefs have confirmed that they are busy with their legal team to appeal the Premier Soccer League’s decision to reject their request to have all their games in December postponed, following the outbreak of Covid-19 at the club.

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The PSL announced on Monday that they have decided to uphold the football department’s decision to reject the request. Amakhosi missed missed two missed games this month after a coronavirus outbreak at the club.

“Kaizer Chiefs received communication from the Premier Soccer League on Monday, 20 December wherein they declined our request for a postponement of matches following a severe outbreak of Covid-19 that saw 52 of the Club’s personnel test positive for the virus,” read the statement on the club’s website.

“Initially, at our first time of writing to the league, we had 31 positive cases, which included a majority of players as well as members of the technical team. As a double consequence of the close contact nature of our environment and the increased levels in contagiousness of the Omicron variant, these numbers increased steadily in the next week. Additional rounds of testing revealed a rise to 36, followed by 48 and then 52 positive diagnoses from the subsequent two weeks’ round of testing.”

“This increase in numbers indicates that our decision to close our headquarters was a justified and prudent attempt to protect even more people both within and outside our camp from being affected, and, importantly, fell within the established Department of Health protocols for containing an outbreak of Covid.”

The club added that asking for their games to be postponed would not have benefitted them in any way and the team’s legal team is busy with the matter.

“Chiefs would not have benefited from the postponement in any way as it would have caused unnecessary fixture congestion later in the season for the Club,” the statement continued.

“We are studying the feedback and will engage our legal department with the view of appealing this unjustifiable decision through the football mother body, the South African Football Association or the Dispute Resolution Committee.”