The SA Football Association (Safa) will go ahead with its Indaba and ordinary congress with or without the Premier Soccer League (PSL) present, the association’s CEO Tebogo Motlanthe said on Friday.
The PSL announced on Thursday that it will sit out this weekend’s activities.
Safa’s football workshop got under way at the Emperors Palace in Ekurhuleni on Friday until Saturday, and will be followed by the association’s ordinary congress on Sunday.
The PSL has decided to boycott the events and has said it will seek an audience with Zizi Kodwa, the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Confederation of African Football president Patrice Motsepe, and other stakeholders regarding the matter.
PSL’s posture has since taken the football fraternity and Safa by surprise.
“When you get a letter without informing you of the reasons [for not attending], you need to get the reasons first before you respond,” said Motlanthe.
“We are seeking more information as to what are the issues. After hearing their [the PSL] side, we will see if we can meet and resolve the issues. The PSL saw the agenda, which was issued to members about a month ago.
“They did not have any issues with the agenda then, but we will write to them and direct the letter to the acting CEO of the league Mato Madlala, to ask for more particulars. It is difficult to comment because we are not sure what are the issues with the agenda.”
Motlanthe added: “The relationship with the league has always been solid. There are no problems at all. I was caught by surprise, and I don’t want to comment whether there is any animosity.
“I have never seen the animosity, it is like a ghost, I always hear about it but have never seen it. We do talk on matters of mutual interest – they have attended NEC meetings previously and there were no issues raised, so that’s why we were taken by surprise.
“That’s why we say let’s continue with the events of this week, because we need to come out with a strategic plan and we will engage the PSL on the right platform. The meeting must go on, we will write to them and check if there are basis for us to meet.”
Walter Steenbok, technical director at Safa, said this week that he wants all the PSL club coaches to acquire CAF A Licences.
The association, which is the custodian of football in the country, is also not happy with the format of the Diski Challenge, which was first mooted as a developmental league.
