OPINION: Kaizer Chiefs already fluffing their lines

As soon as a glimmer of hope was offered to Kaizer Chiefs in the DStv Premiership title race, courtesy of an off-the-field arbitration decision, it was Amakhosi on-the-field who fluffed their lines, illustrating over 90 minutes at FNB Stadium against Golden Arrows why they never really had a hope in hell of catching Mamelodi Sundowns.

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Advocate Nassir Cassim’s decision to allow Chiefs to play their Premiership games against Arrows (away) and Cape Town City has to be met with a healthy dose of scepticism, even if the plain facts make it 100% the correct choice.

Amakhosi had an outbreak of Covid-19 at the Kaizer Chiefs Village at Naturena in December that they claimed made it simply impossible, for health reasons, for them to play against either Arrows in KZN or City at FNB Stadium.

Clearly Chiefs provided enough evidence of the truth of this for a South African Football Association aribtrator (Advocate Cassim) to rule in their favour, after Amakhosi had initially been charged by the Premier Soccer League for failing to turn up for the two matches.

Yet herein lies the problem.

The PSL Executive took a decision in August 2020 that Covid-19 could not be used as a reason to have a game postponed.

Cape Umoya United did not honour a GladAfrica Championship match against Cape Town Spurs in January 2021 after a Covid-19 outbreak in their camp and were subsequently charged by the PSL and forfeited the three points, with the PSL’s decision even upheld by an arbitrator.

So what has changed now, for Advocate Cassim to effectively overrule the PSL?

There can be little argument that the initial decision of the PSL executive, in August 2020, was supremely daft, and extremely dangerous.

This is a global pandemic, featuring a highly contagious, potentially deadly virus, and to make teams play football in these circumstances, to put it simply, smacks of a lack of concern for human life. And yet these rules were in place, and caused Cape Umoya United to lose three points, and Chiefs to be charged by the league for failing to attend the two matches in December.

That Chiefs have been allowed to play their games, purely according to the PSL’s own rules, smacks of double standards, even of a bigger name in the local game getting away with what a smaller team could not.

The right decision was made, in my opinion, by Advocate Cassim, but this is not a good look for the PSL, whatever way you spin it.

Anyway, in theory, the potential for six points against Arrows and City gave Chiefs far more hope of creating a title race that has only half-existed for some time, so dominant have Sundowns been in cruising towards a fifth straight league title.

One would think Chiefs would be highly motivated by the possibility of mounting a late surge for the crown, and that this would inspire them in Saturday’s home game against Arrows. Any yet, Amakhosi could not produce when it mattered most.

In fact, the most popular team in the country haven’t been able to seize the moment for some time, evidenced in a lack of silverware going back seven years.