Cape Town - DStv Premiership season has miraculously ended incident-free, thanks in the main to the timely efforts of acting PSL prosecutor Zola Majavu.
The end of last season was vastly different, when there was a legal stand-off between the PSL and First Division club Royal AM, who fought tooth and nail to gain automatic promotion to the elite Premier League.
The super-rich Royal AM dragged the matter through several courts over a few weeks before seeking relief in the world’s highest sports court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The PSL had its fair share of challenges this season, and the Kaizer Chiefs saga could have been as big as the Royal AM case last season.
Once the Safa Arbitration Tribunal had made a decision, the outcome should have been final and binding. The laws governing local football say the decisions made by the Safa Arbitration Tribunal are final and binding.
Rather unexpectedly, the PSL did not accept the outcome. Instead of thanking Safa for resolving the matter, the PSL approached the High Court to overturn the Tribunal’s decision.
The PSL per se had nothing to gain in the Chiefs saga, but clubs whose owners serve on the PSL executive had vested interests in the matter.
To resolve issues as soon as possible and to ensure that there were no legal issues left hanging in the air when the season ended in mid-May, the PSL decided to carry out the Tribunal’s orders, but would review the matter once the High Court had made its decision.
Fortunately for the PSL, Chiefs lost both matches which the Tribunal had ordered to be replayed, and the matter was settled out of court.
It would have been a very different matter had Chiefs won both fixtures, because it could have adversely affected two other clubs, Cape Town City and Golden Arrows.
Towards the end of last year, the PSL’s image took a battering following three high-profile resignations. Prosecutor Nande Becker, legal counsel Michael Murphy and finance manager Yusuf Seth all left the organisation.
ALSO READ: PSL admin must up their game but let’s be grateful there isn’t any court battles
At the start of last season, the buying and selling of clubs also attracted a fair bit of attention. Many questioned whether the PSL hierarchy were doing due diligence or that there were financial checks on new prospective owners.
Despite all the trials and tribulations, the PSL’s primary sponsor, MultiChoice, looks like it will be around for years to come.
This season, the PSL has been tardy to allow spectators to return to stadiums because of the high cost of having ground staff in place at matches. Even when conditions were relaxed, attendance has been low.
It is still greatly concerning that the PSL’s two glamour clubs, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, are mere shadows of their former selves. They continue to attract fans, but nowadays have limited appeal. The Soweto derby featuring these teams remains the country’s premier football attraction.
The PSL would do well to appoint a permanent CEO instead of relying on one of the owners of a Premiership club to be saddled with the day-to-day running of the governing body.
@Herman_Gibbs