Durban City FC chairman Farouk Kadodia has detailed why the club will proceed with their match on Friday, even though the PSL granted them the option of postponement in the wake of player Sinamandla Zondi’s tragic death.
Zondi collapsed during the warm-up session shortly before Durban City’s Motsepe Foundation Championship match against Milford FC on Tuesday. City learned of the player’s death while the match was in progress.
He passed away at Chatsmed Garden Hospital after being rushed there from the Chatsworth Stadium. Subsequently, the KZN Derby against Milford, who held a 1-0 lead at the time, was suspended.
Kadodia revealed that the league offered the club the choice to postpone their match against Pretoria Callies, which is scheduled for Friday, 25 April, at 7:30 PM at Chatsworth Stadium.
However, he further revealed that the decision to continue playing in honour of the late Zondi was taken by the players and the technical team themselves, emphasising that it was made without his influence.
Kadodia added that the decision was also taken to avoid accumulating many games in hand and to help maintain their current advantage at the summit of the second-tier league standings as they push for Betway Premiership promotion.
WHY DURBAN CITY WON’T POSTPONE THEIR UPCOMING MATCH FOLLOWING ZONDI’S PASSING
“The league offered us the postponement of the game on Friday night, but the team and the players believe otherwise,” said Kadodia on SNAWA on Metro FM.
“They believe that if we were not chasing the Championship, they would have gladly taken the offer from the league. And for them, winning this Championship would be a remembrance for Sinamandla Zondi.
“I excused myself from the meeting and didn’t want to have any influence. I think it’s fair for them to make that decision between themselves and the coaches.
“And this is how they reached that decision of playing the match. They also realised that while we’re in the pole position, we don’t want to lose that advantage even with games in hand.”
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