The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has been accused of tampering with Mamelodi Sundowns’ plans for the first leg of the Caf Champions League match against Mali’s Stade Malien, on Friday at 6pm, at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria.
These serious accusations against the organization that supervises football in South Africa, came from the mouth of the coach of Sundowns, Miguel Cardoso, after his team’s 2-0 victory over Orbit College FC in the Betway Premiership match on Tuesday.
Instead of being happy to ensure that Sundowns climbed to the top of the log before playing the Champions League, Cardoso lashed out at the PSL managers who make decisions about what is happening in South African football.
This Portuguese coach, who was not the first to criticize the PSL, described the day of their victory in Orbit as one of the darkest in South African football.
“If it were up to me, I would not have spoken about the way other teams are managed in South African football, but I will not pass up this opportunity to highlight to football fans that the teams are not managed in the same way,” said Cardoso.
“It’s embarrassing that a big team like Sundowns, which is part of the biggest league in the country (PSL), is forced by this league to play when they have the Champions League quarter-final in three days.
“This messed up and ended our Champions League plans because there is no sign of doing anything other than resting the players so that they can come to the Champions League in the right condition. This is embarrassing if it is because of being forced by the league that should be protecting you.
“These teams that won places in the Champions League are always given enough time by their respective leagues, but in the PSL it is different, especially when it comes to Sundowns.
“Perhaps PSL knows that we will be able to withstand this difficulty, we are the ones who don’t know.”
It is not the first time that there have been complaints about the PSL and the way it handles the teams it represents in the Caf competitions.
One of the coaches of Kaizer Chiefs, Khalil Ben Youssef, recently complained about this when Amakhosi were playing in the Confederation Cup.
What they were complaining about was that when Orlando Pirates played in the Champions League, the league games were postponed.