SAFA are set to reacted angrily to mounting criticism that they are deliberately delaying the resumption of the 2019-20 Absa Premiership, but they argue they too want football to return.
In an unpublished statement seen by SunSport, the federation says it's "unfortunate distortions and falsehood against Safa".
Safa and the PSL have been in disagreement over the resumption of football with the association, the decision maker, reminding the league about the protocols that need to be followed for football to return.
The PSL planned to start the season this weekend but Safa refused to endorse the proposed 18 July date, thus recommending 1 August as an opportune period to continue the PSL and GladAfrica Championship that were halted due to Covid-19 outbreak.
Safa said their referees are not ready at this stage and can only be ready in the first week of August as they under fitness and Covid-19 tests before hitting the field.
But Safa would argue that there "has been lots of distortions with regards to issue of the return to play matter".
The federation would say it has always advocated for the immediate resumption of football upon full compliance from the National Soccer League (NSL), which comprise chairmen from PSL and Championship clubs.
"We are looking forward to football resuming on the first week of August," Safa would emphasise in the report likely to be released butseen by SunSport.
"We must however insist on the health and safety of players as prescribed by the world football governing body, FIFA."
Safa says it has been working with the PSL through the two organisations’ Joint Working Group to produce an agreed date on the return to play.
"On Monday (13 July 2020), the Joint Working Group led by the Safa and NSL CEOs met and after consultations with the Referees Sub-Committee agreed that the start day of the league would be 1 August," the statement said.
"This agreement was forwarded to the Safa NEC and the NSL Board of Governors (BoG) and this was in response to the letter from government outlining compliance processes which placed the responsibilities of overseeing the whole process."We hope matches will commence on 1 August as planned. We have in the meantime begun processes to test match officials for Covid-19 and put those negative through the mandatory fitness test.
"Argument that Safa is against resumption of football is both illogical and false because international football will resume later this year and we cannot have a competitive national team without a competitive domestic football."
And the association also dispelled talk that they have financial problems and want to collapse the NSL which the say "is laughable to say the least".
"Safa doesn’t have financial problems and we have recently paid all of our regions, all clubs and players and we will continue to do so. Safa wants a well-funded and run professional wing and anything to the contrary is opportunistic and dismissed with contempt."
They said in consideration that Bafana Bafana and the U-23s have to get ready for their respective upcoming assignments for the Africa Cup of Nations and Fifa World Cup qualifiers, while the u23 have to be ready for the Tokyo Olympics next year.
"The revenue of the NSL has nothing to do with Safa as we have never interfered with their sponsors," statement would read.
"The situation in Gauteng Province and the country at large is a life threatening situation and we need to tread carefully on safety and healthy compliance.
"We had wanted football to begin on Level-1 but compromised with the NSL that the date should be brought forward provided there is full compliance."
