Cape Town City are feeling hard done by the Premier Soccer League (PSL), which has rescheduled the abandoned SuperSport United match against Golden Arrows to continue from where it was stopped in the second half for this Thursday.
The match will start at 1-1, and if the scoreline remains unchanged, City will be dragged to the relegation/promotion play-offs.
The Citizens are one point ahead of United in the Betway Premiership standings, and they are questioning why United was not penalised under the PSL Handbook and regulations because they lacked a back-up plan following the floodlight failure at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on February 23.
Game abandoned months ago
The decision to restart after such a lengthy wait did not sit well with an anonymous member of City’s technical team.
“The rules are clear that after floodlight failure, if the game has to be restarted, then it must happen within 48 hours,” said the technical team member.
“This game was abandoned about three months ago. Why has the league restarted this game at this crucial relegation time?
“We’re asking, why is it played now? The league hasn’t responded, so something is wrong.”
City coach cries foul
Diogo Peral, the interim coach for City, was quite vocal and did not hold back when he referred to the entire episode as a joke.
“What happened is disappointing. All games are played at the same time because teams are unable to choose the outcomes they desire,” Peral told the media.
Furthermore, the two relegation-threatened teams are playing one another. It’s a bit of a joke. It is what it is, and all these negatives are not going to help us in the next game.
“The only thing we can do is focus on the task at hand; forget about everything else and prepare as best we can, just like we have been for the previous games we have played. Then, give it our all during the 90 minutes, and the rest will take care of itself.”
