PSL apologises to Safa for Bafana technical team stadium fiasco
The incident is highly regrettable," said the League in a statement.
Premier Soccer League (PSL) chairman Irvin Khoza (right) with SA Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has apologised to the South African Football Association (Safa) for the incident that happened at Orlando Stadium last Saturday.
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This was after the Bafana Bafana technical team was denied access to the stadium during the DSTV Premiership match between Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.
Bafana coach Hugo Broos was not impressed with what happened at Orlando and expressed his unhappiness during a live TV broadcast to announce the squad that will face Ethiopia in the World Cup qualifiers next month.
“I have to mention I am also upset,” said Broos.
“We would have liked to see the game between Pirates and Sundowns, but they did not let us go in the stadium!
“We couldn’t enter at 3pm and we had accreditation. I am trying to understand, these are coaches of the national team, and they (Pirates) won’t allow us into the stadium to see a game of their team.
“Most surprising is that the chairman of the team (Irvin Khoza) is the vice-president of Safa. My assistant was there, I couldn’t believe it, he couldn’t enter the stadium even though he had the accreditation of the league. It is unacceptable,” he added.
In the apology statement to Safa released on Monday, the PSL, said the incident was ” highly regrettable”.
Here is the PSL statement:
The Premier Soccer League today learned of an unfortunate incident in which the South African senior national team head coach was denied access to the DStv Premiership match between Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday, 25 September 2021.
The incident is highly regrettable, and the League has apologised unreservedly to the South African Football Association for the unfortunate occurrence.
The PSL immediately investigated the matter and established that the confusion was caused by the League’s failure to inform the host club about the head coach’s attendance as per protocol.
Over the past two months, an arrangement has been in place between the League and SAFA to allow the head coach to attend matches whenever he needs to, while continuing to ensure compliance. The arrangement has functioned well until thus far.
On this occasion, the League regrettably erred, and will ensure that this does not occur again.
