JOHANNESBURG - Absa, who were last season’s PSL title sponsors, have been at the negotiation table with the league to hammer out a new deal as the previous one expired eight days ago.

This contract is not the only one which presented a challenge for the league, as also the Nedbank and Telkom contracts have also yet to be renewed.

MTN has signed a new contract with the league after fears that they were not keen to come on board for this season’s  MTN8 tournament and  took some time before announcing a new partnership.

League chairman Irvin Khoza cited a cluttered market for announcing the settlement only days before the competition started.

PSL spokeswoman Connie Motshumi said the announcement of a new deal with the potential league sponsors was also delayed  because “MTN must enjoy their space”.

“We are still giving MTN the mileage after the start of the MTN8. It would not make sense for us to announce while they could still enjoy the market,” she said.

“But we will be naming the league sponsors  before the end of this week.

“We are busy with all our partners in terms of renewing the deals,” she said.

Asked if the league had received bids from other potential sponsors in place of the expired deals, Motshumi said they were inundated with proposals from private companies looking to   be title sponsors.

“There has been a huge demand from many companies. I cannot mention names now as it would be unfair to do so.

“But we will not struggle getting backers because our product is in demand,” she added.

Motshumi said she was confident her organisation would clinch   the outstanding deals with Telkom, Nedbank and Absa.

“I am sure we will be able to get them done,” she said.

The 2012/13 PSL season officially starts this Friday evening with defending champions Orlando Pirates hosting Golden Arrows  and Ajax Cape Town welcoming SuperSport United, both matches starting at 8pm.

On Saturday, Black Leopards face Bloemfontein Celtic  and Free State Stars  host Bidvest Wits  in 3pm  games.

In the evening,  AmaZulu will play  Kaizer Chiefs at the Moses Mabhida Stadium at 6pm while Mamelodi Sundowns entertain PSL newcomers Chippa United at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.