The winners of the ABC Motsepe League playoffs will be determined today after a week that started with the South African Football Association (Safa) excluding Limpopo and Eastern Cape teams from participating due to unresolved cases in their leagues.
Mpheni Home Defenders (Limpopo) and Ravens FC (Eastern Cape) were barred by Safa because by the time the playoffs for promotion to the National First Division kicked off in Pretoria on Tuesday, there were still disputes with regard to them winning the league in their provinces.
Three teams, the two finalists and winner of the third and fourth playoff, will be promoted to the Motsepe Foundation Championship, which is South Africa’s first division run by the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
By yesterday, there were still reports indicating that Mpheni and Ravens had taken the matter to court to declare the playoffs null and void after Safa ended up fielding seven clubs for the playoffs, instead of the usual nine.
The playoffs themselves were not without drama. Midlands Wanderers from KwaZulu-Natal lodged a protest after they were declared as not qualifying for the semifinals despite finishing on the same points and goals with Zizwe United of the Western Cape in group matches.
“Arbitration sat on Friday night and decided that, for fairness, they must play one game [between Wanderers and Zizwe], and the winner goes through to the semifinals,” said Safa COO Teboho Motlanthe, who was part of Safa officials monitoring the playoffs.
“The issue was about the best runner-up interpretation because of this odd number [of clubs] we have. The other three teams qualified on Friday, and we were just waiting for the winner between Wanderers and Zizwe [yesterday].”
Wanderers managed to beat Zizwe 4-0 in their repeat match at the Lucas Moripe Stadium yesterday, setting a semifinal against Gomora United of Gauteng. But Wanderers will have to beat Thames FC from North West after losing 1-0 to Gomora in the second semifinal last night.
In the first semifinal earlier yesterday, The Bees of Mpumalanga — who are coached by former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Humphrey Mlwane — gained promotion to the first division. They also qualified for today’s final after beating Thames 4-2 on penalties, as the match had ended 0-0.
The losers in the semifinals will meet before today’s final, with the winner promoted to the first division alongside the finalists. “We’re promoting three teams. The winner of the third and fourth place playoffs will also be promoted,” confirmed Motlanthe.
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