KAIZER Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung has, for the first time, reacted to the PSL’s decision not to grant their appeal to see all four matches in December last year postponed, saying he was left “dumbfounded.”
Chiefs wrote letters to the PSL to ask them to postpone all four matches because 31 of their players tested positive for Covid-19.
However, they were declined by the PSL executive committee, who said what Chiefs presented to the league could not suffice the games to be postponed.
Chiefs then defied the PSL, resulting in the no-show in the match against Cape Town City, who travelled from Cape Town to fulfil the game.
As another round of tests took place before their league game against Golden Arrows, Amakhosi confirmed that five more staff tested positive, bringing their number 36.
Just like against City, Chiefs did not honour the game against Abafana Bes’Thende.
However, Chiefs supremo said the league should have granted them an appeal as this has resulted in the league’s image being tarnished.
“The PSL continues to be one of the best leagues on the continent because of how professionally it is run,” Motaung said in a statement on the club’s website.
“We continue to be proud of the work done by all involved. Our recent experience that saw us not allowed to postpone matches after the Covid-19 attack has still left us dumbfounded.
“This has also brought a lot of attention to the running of the league and we have to ensure that we do not let this situation tarnish the good image of the organisation.
“We do hope sanity and rationality will prevail at the end of the day and the PSL continues to be an example to many leagues in the world. We also need to learn from the examples of other top leagues in the world.”
The PSL revealed late last year that they will have a press conference on Wednesday to deliberate on the Chiefs matter of no-show.
Motaung added: “Many aspects of football that we took for granted in pre-Covid times have been radically affected. As waves of infections increased and subsided, so borders were closed and reopened, frequently at very short notice, leading to tremendous logistical difficulties in fulfilling fixtures, particularly on the continent. Similarly, spikes in infections among personnel have left playing squads decimated and Clubs unable to field teams for scheduled matches, a fate that befell our own staff only a few weeks ago.”
Meanwhile, Motaung hopes 2022 will bring better results for the club.
Last year, Chiefs reached the Caf Champions League final but lost to Pitso Mosimane’s Al Ahly in July.
It was in the backdrop of what was a difficult year for Amakhosi, who were banned for two transfer windows by Fifa.
