Premier Soccer League (PSL) chairperson Irvin Khoza says the soccer body intends to take legal action against the recently announced partnership between the South Arican Football Association (SAFA) and OUTsurance.
Khoza told journalists that the partnership with OUTsurance is in conflict with the rights of Nedbank and Absa who sponsor the league - a claim SAFA labelled "absurd and nonsensical" in a statement.
SAFA last week announced a five-year sponsorship deal with OUTsurance worth R50 million in a first of its kind match officials sponsorship deal.
"The deal aims to facilitate the skills training development of referees to ensure sound judgement on the field of play," SAFA said.
Khoza, speaking to journalists alongside Kaizer Motaung threatened to take legal action against SAFA and blasted a recent press release by the organisation that he called "insulting".
"For all the years I've been in football, I've never read a statement from SAFA written in that manner," Khoza said.
"We have been quiet in the media because our main aim is to find a solution which is in the best interests of football.
"We are very disheartened because this reminds us of where we come from. The correspondence we see from SAFA amounts to insults.
"We can't understand why a simple thing which could have been dealt with indoors was thrown out to the public.
"One just wonders what has triggered this. If we don't deal with this matter, it is quite clear that the football industry will be injured.
"We as the PSL have done everything according to the book. Some of the things mentioned in the statement from SAFA have nothing to do with this matter at hand.
"We are going to seek advice from our legal team and sponsors for a way forward. The statement from SAFA was sent out while we were still in a meeting with them in order to resolve the matter. That was unfortunate.
"We have sent letters and messages but there have been no responses."
The prior mentioned statement by SAFA hints at an ongoing power struggle behind the scenes between the two soccer bodies in South African soccer.
Extracts taken from the strongly-worded statement says: "It is SAFA that has licensed the NSL, which is a stake holder, to administer and run professional football in South Africa.
"On the contrary, it is not the NSL that runs and controls football in our country and that SAFA is subordinate to the NSL. THIS MUST BE MADE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR.
"We understand that the league appears to be complaining that the rights of OUTsurance are in conflict with the rights of Nedbank and Absa who are sponsors of the league. This is absurd and nonsensical, to say the least."
