by Benjamin Nyirenda
The Chairman of the Premier Soccer League, Dr Irvin Khoza, has confirmed that there will be no replacement for the Telkom Knockout Cup. The tournament has withdrawn by sponsors, Telkom as the end of last season
The withdrawal of this knockout tournament has been attributed to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its restrictions it has put on the game of play. Last season, the league was met with challenges of having to cater for all tournaments (MTN8, Telkom Cup and the Nedbank Cup) and the the league. Throw in the CAF Confederations Cup and the CAF Champions League, there remains no room to manoeuvre.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday at the club’s headquarters in Johannesburg, Dr Khoza cited congested fixture lists and travelling challenges as other reasons for not adding the fourth competition in the league this season.
“We took into consideration that there is no much dates to play another knockout tournament as there are teams which play in CAF tournaments and it’s difficult for the teams to be traveling around in Africa and chop and change the team as they also prepare for the local games which include the league, the MTN 8 and the Nedbank Cup as well. It is for this reason and we think for now we won’t be looking to replace the Telkom Knockout. It’s fine as it is now, ” he said.
Khoza added that at the league would focus on the remaining cups.
Acting league CEO Mato Madlala added that one of the reasons the league was not going “shopping ” for another tournament sponsors was the league congestion which saw the league end in June and not in May as past seasons.
“You also have to consider how the teams travel. Not just when they go to Africa where they have to wait for two days before they come back home and have a game on the next day but even locally. You have to fir example travel from Johannesburg to Cape Town then come back and then in two days travel to Durban and so on and so forth. You see last season we finished the season late compared to the other seasons because of breaks here and there and imagine if we have another knockout tournament we could even go as far as July which wouldn’t be good for the league. So for now we are not looking at a knockout tournament yet, ” Madlala concluded.