SAFA Provincial secretary, Refilwe Khosa.
DATE FOR NEDBANK CUP AND ABC MOTSEPE LEAGUE SEASON REVEALED
BY: Refilwe Sebola
The much anticipated dates for the Nedbank Cup preliminary round and for the start of the ABC Motsepe league new season has been revealed.
SAFA Provincial secretary Refilwe Khosa says the Nedbank Cup will start in earnest next weekend of the 21, 22 October while the ABC Motsepe league season will start on the second week of November. This is clearly a relief to most of the clubs who started their preseason preparation early.
Both the Nedbank and the league were delayed because of the commotion involving some of the clubs and SAFA over the issue of the addition of teams in the league from 16 to 20.
According to Khosa, the Provincial Executive Committee has already endorsed the idea of having 20 teams, 10 in each of the two streams. However, some of the club owners are opposing the matter and have been alleged to be taking it to arbitration.
The SAFA competitions committee was due to meet with the complainant on Thursday to further clarify the reason behind the idea.
Meanwhile, the Hollywoodbets sponsored third division league has also confirmed next weekend as the start of their Nedbank preliminary league. About 36 of the 70 teams in Mopani have already affiliated for the new league season as a requisite for the Nedbank Cup competition eligibility.
An additional number of clubs were expected to also affiliate by yesterday afternoon before they could participate in the draw.