Kaizer Chiefs Set To Appeal PSL Decision To Reject Fixture Postponement
Kaizer Chiefs have resolved to lodge an appeal after the Premier Soccer League (PSL) declined to postpone the club’s December fixtures following a COVID-19 outbreak at the club.
In a statement this Tuesday, Kaizer Chiefs said they wrote to the PSL after initially recording 31 positive cases, which included a majority of players as well as members of the technical team.
The club conducted additional rounds of testing which revealed a rise to 36, followed by 48 and then 52 positive diagnoses from the subsequent two weeks’ round of testing.
Kaizer Chiefs failed to fulfil their DStv Premiership home fixture against Cape Town City on 4 December and against Lamontville Golden Arrows four days later. The club said:
When the medical staff noted a decline in the infection rate and some staff returning to work from quarantine, we were able to honour the next match against Sekhukhune on 12 December.
Kaizer Chiefs is disappointed and taken aback by the contrasting lack of urgency from the PSL after having taken almost three weeks to address the matter.
Amakhosi argued that they would not have benefited from the postponement in any way as it would have caused unnecessary fixture congestion later in the season for the Club. The club further stated:
We are studying the feedback and will engage our legal department with the view of appealing this unjustifiable decision through the football mother body, the South African Football Association or the Dispute Resolution Committee.
… we reiterate that we value the lives of our players, staff, their families, supporters and the country at large. We continue to operate in a safe environment to mitigate danger to people’s health.
It must be noted that Kaizer Chiefs has never in the past, nor ever will, take to the field with positive Covid cases, which is contrary to other members who have publicly pronounced that they have played with positive cases in the camp.
We are living through a pandemic that is with us for the foreseeable future or until a cure is found and we call for responsible behaviour from everybody to try to limit its effects.
In this specific case, we urge the governing structures of football to deal with the situation in a manner that is warranted by these extraordinary circumstances.
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