Mamelodi Sundowns are through to the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League but there are a lot of questions regarding the support they receive from the PSL. A lot has been mentioned about the love and support from the league’s governing body, the Premier Soccer League (PSL – the Gauteng News Sports desk looks at the challenges facing Sundowns.
As the only South African representative in the PSL, Sundowns continue to defy the odds and hoist the South African flag in continental tournaments. The Brazilians always face a hectic schedule as they participate in several cup competitions.
Coached by Rulani Mokwena and assisted by Manqoba Mngqithi and the likes of Wendell Robinson, Sundowns are campaigning in the Nedbank Cup, the DStv Premiership, and have reached the semi-finals stage of the lucrative continental competition.
Are Sundowns Receiving Love from PSL?
Led by Orlando Pirates chairman Dr. Irvin Khoza, the PSL doesn’t show love to the reigning league title holders. This became evident when Sundowns welcomed Young Africans in the quarter-finals last weekend. Sundowns first travelled to Dar Es Salaam for the opening leg as they played to a goal-less draw over two legs.
After arriving from Tanzania during the Easter Weekend, Sundowns had to train on Easter Monday to prepare for their league match against Richards Bay at home last Tuesday. In a shocking move, the PSL didn’t even engage the clubs to reschedule the clash because all the other CAF Champions League quarter-finalists didn’t have (domestic) matches before the second leg encounters.
With all the fatigue shown by Sundowns players against the relegation-threatened Bay, Mokwena’s men emerged as winners courtesy of Junior Mendietta’s late header to remain unbeaten. After that 15th win, the inaugural African Football League winner, Sundowns returned to the training field preparing for the return clash against Yanga. As Mokwena says winning and being ambitious comes naturally to Sundowns, they fought hard to beat the Tanzanians.
In that goal-less draw after 90 minutes, Sundowns looked flat and ordinary, and the match had to be decided on penalties after Yanga saw their goal controversially disallowed through VAR.
The general sentiment in the South African football space is that the PSL is not supportive of Sundowns’ CAF ambitions and quest to conquer the African continent. It becomes confusing because more and more players want to come to play in the PSL because of Sundowns’ ambitions in continental football.
On the other hand, raising the South African flag means the PSL and the country receive a massive boost. This was also obvious during the recent AFCON showpiece in Ivory Coast.
Sundowns dominated the squad by Hugo Broos and the team managed to shock many when they reached a third-place finish and clinched a bronze medal. That feat came after Broos blasted the league for not giving his bench enough time to prepare for the tournament as the PSL scheduled matches until the end of December 2023.
Sundowns Coach Mokwena on Love from the PSL
Ahead of the match against Yanga, Mokwena shared his thoughts on the support from the PSL and SAFA.
“It is what it is, I can’t complain it’s not going to help, so we have to play the games, we have to win the games, and the players understand this, the club understands this, I would love to see more support when we play these types of games for sure,” Mokwena said at Loftus Versfeld on Thursday morning.
“I shouldn’t comment on that question, sorry, it’s a beautiful question but it’s better I don’t comment, I’ll be smashed for talking to the media. And it’s not true that we didn’t speak to the Association, it’s not true and this is just for the benefit of the Sundowns fans. Sometimes they think we also don’t care about the aspirations, their dreams to make them happy but it’s not true that the club didn’t speak to the federation (SAFA) it’s not true.”
With the PSL yet to find a way to balance between the domestic and continental fixtures, it seems Sundowns will continue to suffer.
Related: Young Africans Lodge Protest, ‘Sundowns Match Was Fixed’
