Soccer stand-off: PSL to boycott SAFA congress

A stand-off between the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the South African Football Association (SAFA) is brewing, with the former announcing they'll not attend the latter's congress on Sunday.

In announcing they'll skip the congress, the professional football body will also seek to meet with Sports Minister Zizi Kodwa and the president of Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe.

In a statement, the PSL said its decision to boycott this weekend's congress, to be held in the East Rand, was based on the agenda circulated by SAFA to its members for this weekend's events.

The PSL's executive committee met on Thursday to discuss the agenda, from where they resolved not to attend the congress on Sunday, and the preceding workshop/indaba on Friday and Saturday.

"The executive committee discussed the agenda circulated by the South African Football Association (SAFA) for a workshop/indaba of the association's regional members, set for the 21/22 April, which is to be followed by an Ordinary SAFA Congress on 23 April," the statement said.

"The executive committee unanimously resolved that the PSL would not attend the workshop/indaba or the Ordinary SAFA Congress."

The PSL's non-appearance at the SAFA event only adds to the brewing tension between the key football stakeholders related to issues like CAF club licensing rules, coaching qualifications, and the status of the Multichoice Diski Challenge from a developmental league perspective.

Timeslive reported that SAFA's top brass of Tebogo Motlanthe (chief executive officer), Danny Jordaan (president) and Walter Steenbok (technical director) want to meet the PSL to discuss the above talking points, which have now proved to be a thorn in what has historically been a tense