Cape Town — The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is notorious for dragging its heels on disciplinary matters, and this better not be the case with the Kaizer Chiefs saga.
If it does, the PSL will be sitting with another Royal AM-styled hot potato, but this time of far greater proportions.
The latest news on the Chiefs saga is that after the SAFA-led arbitration took place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the outcome will be made known by Nassir Cassim SC next Tuesday.
In a few weeks at the end of May, the curtain comes down on the Premiership season. By that time, the lucrative top 8 finishes and the relegation battles would have been decided.
If the Chiefs saga is not settled by then, the top 8 finishes and the relegation situation could be left hanging in the air. The PSL would be plunged in a sea of uncertainty on a far greater scale than last season when Royal AM exhausted every legal option under the sun to overturn rulings.
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At the start of the saga on December 2, Chiefs informed the PSL that more than 30 people were laid low by Covid-19, the coronavirus disease. This number included mainly players and several members of the technical staff.
There was no response from the PSL. The ink on Chiefs' letter had hardly dried when the club released a statement saying their training facility at Naturena had been closed and more than 50 people were infected. The decision to close the facility was in keeping with the health regulations at the time as issued by the government regarding safety protocols and Covid-19 regulations.
The situation was so dire that Chiefs had no idea of when players and staff would recover. Hence, they requested that all its December fixtures be postponed.
The fixtures against Cape Town City (December 4) and Golden Arrows (December 8) passed by as Chiefs were unable to physically field a team, even if they had to draw from the ranks of the reserves team which played in the Diski Challenge, the PSL's reserve league.
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Over the next few days, the situation improved somewhat, and after taking the medical advice of experts, Chiefs played their remaining three games in December against Sekhukhune FC (12 December), Royal AM (19 December) and Maritzburg United (22 December).
In all that time, the PSL, incredibly, did not utter one word on the matter of non-fulfilment of the two fixtures. It finally announced on December 20 that the request for postponing matches had been declined.
The PSL informed that it would hold a press conference in January and advise of further developments.
After that, the matter to-and-froed between the PSL's football department's disciplinary committee and the executive committee. In the absence of an outcome, Chiefs decided on arbitration by SAFA.
During that time, the disciplinary committee postponed two sittings to allow the arbitration to take its course.
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Tuesday's outcome will have a huge bearing on the positions of several teams in the Premiership. Presently Chiefs are 16 points adrift of log-leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
If the arbitration outcome goes Chiefs’ way - and it will be binding, it opens the way for them to play the two matches.
Should they pick up six points from the two matches they will be allowed to play, the situation changes somewhat.
However, Tuesday may not be the end of the matter if the arbitration decides to award points to City and Arrows. It is likely Chiefs will take the next step in pursuit of justice in the matter.
IOL Sport