Right now Sundowns have eight matches lined up in 19 days upon the resumption of club football after the FIFA calendar break and logic dictates that three of their domestic games may have to be rescheduled.
First up for The Brazilians over the weekend of 10-11 September will be the visit to Port Elizabeth for a MTN8 semi-final first leg tie against Chippa United.
Then on September 14 they will finally get their league campaign off the mark with a trip to Harry Gwala after which they must play the return leg of the MTN8 against Chippa over the weekend of 17-18 which is a date that clashes with Sundowns’ CAF Champions League semi-final first leg away to ZESCO United of Zambia.
That CAF first leg must be played on the weekend of 16-18 and will definitely force the MTN8 second leg to be deferred to a later date.
Once back from their weekend assignment away in Zambia The Brazilians are set to host Platinum Stars on September 21 – a game that Pitso Mosimane also wants rearranged as it will be played just days before they host ZESCO in the return leg of the Champions League over the weekend of 23-25 September.
On that same weekend the PSL had already pencilled in Sundowns for a league match away at Chippa on September 25 and that game will now also need to be rescheduled.
The Brazilians also have a league home fixture against Bloemfontein Celtic set for September 28, three days before the date that has been set for the final of the MTN8.
If Sundowns reach that final this will further complicate the PSL’s rescheduling plans as it means Mosimane’s charges will definitely have to play their MTN8 second leg during the month of September even if it is moved from the weekend of 17-18.
Should Sundowns also reach the final of the Champions League then the PSL must also postpone all domestic fixtures involving the Chloorkop based club for the weekends of October 14-16 and 21-23.
As it stands the PSL has been left with a situation that is not ideal but one the must approach in a patriotic way by giving The Brazilians all the support they need in this instance by granting Mosimane his wish of no mid-week matches between the two legs of their Champions League semi-final battle with ZESCO.
That will mean the Platinum Stars league game falls away but then still leaves the league wondering about when Sundowns will play the second leg of their MTN8 match as it is non-negotiable that the final be played on October 1.