With the Africa Cup of Nations set to get underway next month, the responsibility of Bafana Bafana doing well at the Africa Cup of Nations is udnerstood to have shifted to the PSL.
All eyes were on the PSL in their fixture saga with the African Football League and Mamelodi Sundowns, as they dragged their feet before giving the Brazilians the go-ahead to participate.
However, the League was uncompromising in moving some of the fixtures to accommodate Sundowns, after the Tshwane giants controversially played the Carling Knockout last 16 fixture against TS Galaxy two days after the FIFA week and were without seven of their international players.
The PSL only came to the party to assist Masandawana in their quest to win the tournament after they reached the final, as they postponed their midweek game against AmaZulu ahead of the second-leg final against Wydad Casablanca.
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The League now has a different opposition in the fixture debacle, as Bafana head coach Hugo Broos is putting pressure on SAFA to mediate on his behalf and convince the PSL to pause the season on 23 December to allow for the players to recuperate before going into the Bafana camp.
Currently, the PSL has matches up until 31 December before the AFCON break.
"We have asked the PSL, upon looking at the calendar and realising that some teams are playing until the 30th of December, can they look at – in line with the coach's desires – finishing the league on the 23rd of December," SAFA CEO Lydia Monyepao said at the National Executive Meeting (NEC), as per SABC Sport.
"This will allow the players to recover before they get to camp, so that we have a fresher squad, so to speak, when the team reports to camp.
"I've received correspondence from the [PSL] acting CEO [Mato Madlala] to say she's engaging the executive, and they will revert to us once the executive has considered the coach's submission on the matter," the report adds.
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The last Bafana squad comprised of 18 players from the PSL and that number is not expected to be reduced, as the only overseas-based players who were excluded and previously in Broos' plans were Lyle Foster (who is unlikely to make the AFCON squad), Luke Le Roux and Njabulo Blom.
