Earlier in the week, the South African Football Association (SAFA) issued a statement on the talked about plan to increase the number of DStv Premiership clubs from 16 to 18.
In their statement, SAFA confirmed suggesting an increase on the number of teams in Mzansi's topflight citing adding to the pool of players to select from for Bafana Bafana and the junior national teams as one of the reasons, although the association distanced itself from some of the reports in the media about the subject.
"The South African Football Association (SAFA) has noted the media reports claiming that the Association is in talks with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) about increasing the number of premiership teams from 16 to 18 sides," read the statement.
"SAFA wishes to state that no such discussions are taking place between the two organisations. Increasing the premiership teams from 16 to 18 teams is an idea that was suggested by SAFA as a means to help increase the pool of Bafana Bafana players and other junior national teams," confirmed the association.
"SAFA also wishes to state that this is not the brainchild of the association's technical director Walter Steenbok as it was erroneously reported this past weekend and it is in fact a proposal that was proposed by the association," concluded the statement on the matter.
Experienced football administrator Lunga Sokhela, who was previously with AmaZulu FC as the general manager, is supporting the planned increase.
The Good
"From a sporting point of view, it would definitely work. By increasing the number of clubs, you would be increasing the pool of players, which would work better for the national team to have more players playing topflight football. That should be good from a PSL point of view. So, the reality is that the bigger the pool of players playing football, the better for the national team and that's without the shadow of a doubt, especially if they are also going to consider the development as well. That is something that is prominent in the club licensing," said Sokhela.
The Bad
"But the question would be, what will happen to the First Division? Would you still keep the number of teams at 16 there or you would also increase it to 18? I think from the PSL point of view the concern was on where the money is going to come from. I have been advocating for the PSL to get involved in the finances of the clubs and how the clubs deal with their financial aspects. At the end of the day, if you were to implement proper financial systems just like in La Liga and the clubs in Europe, where the issue of salary caps is looked at, which I think is very important, it would work. As things are now, it becomes an unworkable scenario. If you were to cut the percentage of money that is going to clubs in the form of grant over time and be able to re-allocate that money, then 18 teams can be achieved. This plan could work if people can start working on it with the view of saying by 2028/29 season it should come into effect," he added.
The Ugly
On Constant Changes In Club Ownership
"You are going to get less and less of that if clubs become viable. Nobody will ever sell a business that's got value and is financially well off. But where the PSL has failed is on the regulation of clubs. Probably, the biggest reason on why the league has failed on that is how the PSL is structured. If I am AmaZulu Football Club, I don't want my competitors to be meddling in my books and into the financial running of my club. It goes back to that issue of club owners sitting in the executive etc. You end up having problems," concluded Sokhela.
Will The PSL Be A Better League With 18 Teams?
