The South African Football Association [SAFA] have explained why they won’t postpone the ABC Motsepe League national playoffs despite two teams missing due to ongoing court cases.
The 2025 national playoffs began at Soshanguve Giant Stadium on Tuesdays. Unlike the previous years, only two matches were played on the day.
Zizwe United from Western Cape played to a 1-1 draw with Midlands Warriors. Thames FC from North West beat Kakamas Juventus from Northern Cape 2-1.
As FARPost reported on Tuesday, Limpopo and Eastern Cape are yet to confirm their participants in the competition due to pending court cases.
Despite proceeding without participants from those provinces, SAFA has been forced to reschedule their futures. Three teams are set to get promoted to the Motsepe Foundation Championship next season due to Royal AM’s expulsion from the Betway Premiership.
THE ABC MOTSEPE LEAGUE NATIONAL PLAYOFFS WILL CONTINUE REGARDLESS OF COURT CASES
“Stopping the playoffs is not optional. The playoffs will proceed and continue. They will continue and finish off,” SAFA competitions committee member Chris Chawana told FARPost.
“Remember in the fixture that was sent, there is a day that was for rest. With the situation that we find ourselves in, we might not have a rest day in order to fill up that space.
“And as the competitions committee, we are going to meet and make a decision regarding the other two provinces that have pending court cases.”
SAFA TO TAKE KEY DECISION ON THE WAY FORWARD REGARDING MISSING TEAMS
“We are running out of time and off the schedule. Hence, I am saying that the competitions committee is going to meet tonight [Tuesday], and after that, we are going to look at all the angles and make a decision. At the end of the day, we need to protect the brand of SAFA.
“We need to protect the sponsorship. There is a lot at stake here. So we need to consider everything. Hence, the committee is going to make a decision.”
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