SAFA president Danny Jordaan has taken a strong stance against the government’s directive to allow the PSL to continue.
Image Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa gave the go-ahead on Tuesday for domestic football to continue behind closed doorts with certain safety measures in place after holding a meeting in Pretoria with the relevant stakeholders.
PSL executive Irvin Khoza argued during his address in the meeting that there will be problems if the season is not played until the end.
“I raised some of the issues in my press conference on Monday, which relates to promotion and relegation – how you determine that. There are a lot of headaches that go with it, so let us act in a way that will assist us [in] solving the problem,” said Khoza, who is also the Orlando Pirates chairman.
“I am still saying that don’t remove the voice to assist in conveying the message about this pandemic.”
And Jordaan responded, saying that those in charge of domestic football should heed the example of other European countries, where attempts to play behind closed doors has only contributed to the spread of the pandemic.
“Well, I will be meeting with the chairman [Irvin Khoza] tomorrow [Wednesday]. Our position is that it has been tried before, and Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta tested positive; the whole Real Madrid team are in quarantine,” said Jordaan.
“So, we have to look at issues of health and safety of the players, but also other important issues of contractual obligations and the revenue – these things we have to meet and discuss [ways around it].
“But if you have UEFA, who postponed the Champions League, and they generate $1,5-billion a year; FIFA, of course, at the last World Cup generated $6-billion, and they said we must postpone these matches.
“So, there is a point where you have to look at how do you mitigate the threat on the commercial and financial side, and how do you secure the health [of stakeholders] and deal with this serious problem.”
