The silence from the PSL on the embarrassing situation that led to the abandonment of SuperSport United’s Betway Premiership clash with Golden Arrows at the Lucas Moripe Stadium was deafening yesterday.
In a season when Royal AM have contrived to make a mockery of the PSL’s assertion that theirs is one of the best-administered leagues, not only on the continent but the world over, their approach to communicating developments has left a lot to be desired. The PSL has allowed issues to fester, perhaps as they apply their minds to the cases, without saying much, and this always leads to speculation.
Granted, they are probably still looking at the match commissioner's report on what transpired in Atteridgeville on Sunday. But a supposedly highly professional entity would at least send a one-line statement saying, "We are looking into the matter and will revert when a position has been taken."
There was nothing professional about this weekend's embarrassing situation at a Lucas Moripe Stadium, where fans were excitedly out to celebrate Gavin Hunt’s milestone 1,000th match.
SuperSport United must take the biggest share of the blame for that mess because, as the host team, it was surely incumbent upon them to ensure that the lights worked. My understanding is that for every night match, the home team has to ensure there is a backup generator in case the lights fail. In this case, SuperSport knew the lights were set to fail due to the stage-six load shedding that was in place.
From what happened just before kick-off, I was privy to a conversation between two club officials discussing the need to ensure that the stadium was exempt from the impending load shedding. They had made some arrangements. Clearly, something went horribly wrong, and that exemption did not come into play when darkness descended upon Atteridgeville a quarter-hour into the match.
I was left wondering how the match was allowed to go on in the evening with no guarantee of an electricity backup.
Typically, the match commissioner was not going to speak to the media—they always say they are not allowed to. But Leebogang B. Daniels did confirm that it was an abandonment and not a suspension, hence the teams could not resume playing when the lights came back on less than ten minutes after referee Siyabulela Qunta had blown his whistle for the abandonment.
It was a baffling situation, especially given that just a few weeks ago, a similar incident occurred in a match between Magesi FC and Chippa United at Seshego Stadium. There, after two power failures, the referee decided to suspend the match, and the remaining minutes were played the following day.
Why Qunta abandoned this match at Lucas Moripe beggared belief. Surely, a suspension was the way to go. This, after all, was not an act of nature over which no one had control. Load shedding is common knowledge in the country, and SuperSport officials had apparently made the match officials aware that efforts were being made to have the lights restored.
Yes, it took a while for the lights to come back on, but when they did, even the officials themselves were still in their kits, as were the players from both sides. It was not even 8 p.m. yet, and we have had matches start at that time. Surely, they could have allowed the teams time to warm up and then complete the second half.
They did not, though, and we continue to have this lopsided league table, where clubs have played such a varying number of matches that an uninformed observer would only see amateurism when looking at it.
This was Arrows’ second successive match within a week to be abandoned after their midweek clash with Orlando Pirates—whose coach, Jose Riveiro, has lamented the inconsistency in the number of matches—was also called off due to a pitch made unplayable by incessant rain.
Musa Bilankulu, the Arrows coach, was understandably frustrated, lamenting that having to play catch-up is going to take its toll on them.
When nature disrupts matches, it is understandable. But what happened at Lucas Moripe Stadium was downright unprofessional, and both SuperSport United, the PSL, and the match officials must hang their heads in shame.
The abandonment could have—and should have—been avoided. And for the PSL to remain silent on the matter, as they have, is not the mark of the best-administered league on the continent, now is it?