Pitso flags PSL off-side

With the calmness of a surgeon, Pitso Mosimane dropped a bomb that reverberated across the country and even forced the Premier Soccer League to release a statement.

The Mamelodi Sundowns coach, who termed their successful 2016 CAF Champions League campaign as a battle “against all odds” due to the club’s struggles to get the Premier Soccer League to move some of their games, launched a thinly veiled assault on the organisation.

Mosimane’s bone of contention is how the PSL has dragged its feet in punishing Sundowns for fielding Wayne Arendse, who wasn’t in the matchday 18, against Bidvest Wits in October last year after Thapelo Morena picked up an injury during warm up. The PSL’s prosecutor, Nande Becker, argued that the delay was due to Sundowns’ busy schedule which has made it hard for him to bring the club to the PSL for the sentencing.

“The league must go to the people who are supposed to win the league. There are people who are supposed to win the league. Let it happen,” Mosimane said at Loftus Versfeld after Sundowns’ 2-0 loss to SuperSport United.

The defeat saw Sundowns slip to third place and fail to make up ground on first-placed Orlando Pirates. The PSL were not pleased with Mosimane’s statement, describing the comments as “regrettable” in their statement.

The Brazilians will look to rewrite midweek’s wrongs this afternoon at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium against Baroka FC.

The Tshwane giants are six points behind Pirates with two games in hand. Even though Mosimane’s tone sounds defeated, he refuses to give up on the league race.

“It’s not over because it is still possible,” Mosimane said. “Anything is possible. We need to bring it back, hopefully we get the injured players back. “You can’t talk about the league race when you don’t know how many points you have. You don’t know what you have, so how can you say how many points you are going to get? We are still waiting. There have been a lot of postponements because we are outside the country.

“The prosecutor told you (the media) that he doesn’t know when we are outside the country, and he told you that he has to eat with his children and play with his children before. So we have to wait a little bit.”

Mosimane continued, “It’s a little bit sad for me. Last year we also didn’t know how many points we needed to win the league because of the Ajax Cape Town matter (regarding Tendai Ndoro’s eligibility) that was pending. This year we go again.

“We don’t know how many points we have. It’s a pity that it has to be like this. I hope next year it won’t be like this. Let’s play, whoever wins - wins. I am talking personally. It’s not over because everyone has to get maximum points. You know my passion and my drive.”

The Brazilians are not only chasing the league but also the CAF Champions League. On Tuesday they will take on Chippa United at Loftus Versfeld at 3pm before flying to Morocco to take on Wydad Casablanca on Friday in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.

“It (the league) is out of my hand,” Mosimane said. “I am accepting reality because the current situation in football, from last year and this year, what am I going to do about it? I know that I am in the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League.

“There are no stories. I am in the semi-finals. I don’t know where I am (in the domestic league). We are all waiting.”