SAFA head of referees on Chiefs drama: There was no word from PSL!

Ebrahim, who is the South African Football Association (SAFA) head of referees, provided his perspective on the bizarre scenes that played out this past weekend.

Kaizer Chiefs were not able to honour last Saturday’s league fixture against Cape Town City after announcing that 31 of their employees recently tested positive for Covid-19, which forced the club to temporarily close their facility in Naturena.

READ | KAIZER CHIEFS VS CAPE TOWN CITY: GATES LOCKED AT FNB STADIUM

Amakhosi had requested the PSL to postpone the match but according to information circulated by Cape Town City Boss John Comitis, the league rejected the plea. Cape Town City still arrived at the FNB Stadium on matchday, but they couldn’t access the venue as the gates were locked.

In an interview with KickOff website, Ebrahim has now revealed that there was no information or communication with the match officials provided by the Premier Soccer League (PSL), and so they arrived as business as usual.

“We were given a fixture appointment, and the match officials went to honour their appointment,” Ebrahim said.

“We received no notification that the match was postponed. So, the match officials did what they normally do, by going to the game.

“The match officials would receive their appointments during the week. If there are any changes to the game, the PSL would normally communicate that.

“So, the match officials went to the stadium, which would mean there was no communication of anything different about the game.”

READ | HOW KAIZER CHIEFS’ NO SHOW AGAINST CAPE TOWN CITY COULD AFFECT THE LOG!

The league is yet to officially comment on the matter, despite holding an urgent executive meeting on Friday, 3 December.

Chiefs are now next scheduled to play Arrows at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban on Wednesday night.

In totality, Chiefs asked the PSL to postpone the matches against CT City, Golden Arrows, Sekhukhune United, Royal AM and Maritzburg United.

However, Chiefs spokesperson Vina Maphosa told TimesLIVE on Monday afternoon there is no update on whether they will travel to Durban to honour their match against Arrows.

“We have no answer to your questions. The last [question] about CT City is the update we issued on Friday and nothing on Arrows yet,” said Maphosa.

With four Chiefs matches originally meant to take place before the annual Christmas break, Stuart Baxter’s men are in fourth place on the standings with 22 points from 13 matches.