PSL Approves One Relegated Team, Mulling Also One In The NFD
Motsepe Foundation Championship clubs have proposed reducing the number of relegated teams to SAFA amateur football from two to one.
However, regarding the Betway Premiership, the proposal was to maintain the current relegation system, where the PSL’s rules dictate that the team finishing last is automatically relegated.
The space typically occupied by the relegated team in the PSL has been taken by Royal AM. All 31 member clubs agreed to cancel Royal AM’s PSL membership due to their failure to honor second-half fixtures.
This situation arose after the South African Revenue Service (SARS) seized Royal AM due to alleged outstanding taxes of R40 million owed by club boss Shauwn Mkhize.
With Royal AM now out of football, the PSL’s Board of Governors agreed to uphold the status quo: the bottom-placed team in the Betway Premiership will be automatically relegated, and the 15th-placed team will participate in the Relegation and Promotional Playoffs.
Similarly, clubs in the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) proposed that only the bottom-placed team in the MFC should be relegated, instead of the current bottom two.
However, as these were proposals, the final decisions will be made by the PSL executive committee in the coming weeks.
According to a source, “The PSL implemented its constitution that the 16th-placed team gets relegated, and in this case, Royal AM was in 16th place but was expelled, not relegated. But we had a different opinion because if a team is expelled, they are out of football.
“Royal AM is out of football. This means the last remaining team, now 15th, should be relegated, and the 14th-placed team should go to the playoffs. But the PSL said no, only the team finishing 15th will go to the playoffs, and team 16, which was Royal AM, is considered relegated. All the PSL clubs supported having only one team relegated.”
The source further explained, “The other proposal was from the NFD clubs, who wanted only one team to be relegated from the NFD instead of the bottom two. They [PSL] also proposed that three teams from SAFA amateur leagues should be promoted to the NFD. However, all the NFD teams objected, stating that this was unfair. They argued that SAFA shouldn’t get an extra promotion slot when NFD clubs have been in the league for a long time. They insisted that only one team should be relegated from the NFD.”
The source concluded, “Clubs were in disagreement and didn’t reach a final decision. The PSL stated they would revert to the clubs with a final decision.”
Regarding the points accumulated against Royal AM by other clubs, no decision has been made. This decision, along with the MFC relegation proposal, will be determined by the PSL executive committee.
