The Buccaneers will fly the South African flag when they host the first leg against the Tunisians at Orlando Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 20h00.
However, the big game will be diluted by clashes between Mamelodi Sundowns and Free State Stars, and Ajax Cape Town against SuperSport United at the same time.
Questions have been asked about why the PSL couldn’t at least shift the kick-off times of these two games or move them to a different date as a way of making sure that the Pirates game has no rival attraction.
“Remember, our fixtures were done a long time ago and with us we don’t get CAF kick-off times until a week or so before those matches are played,” the PSL’s Derek Blanckensee argues.
“Plus we have contracts in place with sponsors and broadcasters, which is why we always try and spread our fixtures on a Saturday to ensure that we accommodate both broadcasters.
“Already on Saturday we have three different kick-off times to enable the broadcasters to show all the games. I doubt the game in Cape Town is in any way a counter attraction to the Pirates game, plus the Sundowns game is in Pretoria.
“We don’t have any games in Johannesburg at the same time. And we never got any request to move our fixtures.”
Pirates confirmed their place in the CAF Final as far back as seven weeks ago when they won 4-3 away to Al-Ahly, and have traditionally played their home games at Orlando on Saturday evening.
By contrast, no League matches will be played in Tunisia’s Ligue 1 on the day that Etoile host the return leg next weekend.