Who was leading the PSL at Christmas?

SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA - DECEMBER 03, Benni McCarthy of Pirates gets his pass away during the Absa Premiership match between Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United from Orlando Stadium on December 03, 2011 in Soweto, South Africa Photo by Duif du Toit / Gallo Images

SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA - DECEMBER 03, Benni McCarthy of Pirates gets his pass away during the Absa Premiership match between Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United from Orlando Stadium on December 03, 2011 in Soweto, South Africa Photo by Duif du Toit / Gallo Images

Published Feb 8, 2012

Share

The Absa Premiership will start from scratch next week, after it emerged yesterday that all the parties involved had forgotten what the league table looked like at the Christmas, New Year, and Chinese New Year break.

The problems started when Jomo Sono hacked into the official PSL website and rearranged the league table, putting Jomo Cosmos top with 45 points from 15 matches, and everyone else on zero.

Sono received a stern phone call from Premier Soccer League chairman Irvin Khoza yesterday morning, but Khoza soon realised that, while he was positive it was not Cosmos, he could not remember who had actually been leading the table in December.

Khoza contacted the rest of the PSL executive committee, who also registered their bemusement.

“I can barely remember what I was doing last week,” said one member, “let alone just under two months ago.”

Orlando Pirates and Bafana midfielder Andile Jali, from his new home above the Midrand News Café, seemed even more confused: “I had forgotten I was a footballer. Am I not a chartered accountant?” asked Jali.

The general sense of bafflement seems to add fuel to the fire of those criticising the PSL for having a mid-season break of such War and Peace-like proportions, particularly once Bafana Bafana had failed to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations.

Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane, however, was not about to jump on to the bandwagon, as he boarded a plane to Bata this week, still convinced his side had qualified.

“I am pretty sure the rules imply that we can be reinstated in the semifinals instead of Zambia,” said a determined Mosimane, “If necessary, I am even prepared to challenge Kalusha Bwalya to a shooting contest.”

South African Football Association (Safa) acting president Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana was even more contrite: “We should be at the Nations Cup ahead of Zambia, no doubt,” he said.

“After all, are we not ahead of them in the alphabet?”

Back in South Africa, meanwhile, there were a variety of attempts to capitalise on the collective Absa Premiership amnesia, with Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and even Barcelona, frustrated at a failure to keep the pace in their own leagues, all claiming to have headed the PSL at the Christmas break.

“This is complete and utter nonsense,” said Khoza. And of course, he would be completely correct - The Star

Related Topics: