CLUBS competing in Safa Cape Town’s Second Division are nearing their pre-season with still no certainty on the league’s format for the 2023/’24 season.
Given the limited time frame with the league officially starting in August, it is highly unlikely that the powers that be will have the luxury of time to revisit the league’s format which was divided into two streams (of nine clubs each) for the past few seasons.
Safa Western Cape’s boss, Tankiso Modipa, indicated that they are still on a break and will convene early in the pre-season to pave the way forward.
“The first pre-season meeting will give a road map on this season’s activities,” said Modipa.
“One stream, two streams and all other issues relating to the uniform rules and the running of the league will be handled in the meeting. Currently the status quo remains and we will engage in the near future.”
The split into two streams was implemented to combat the logistical challenges during the Covid19-pandemic and to lessen the financial burden on teams that could not afford to maintain the traveling costs to honour their fixtures.
However, there have been subsequent calls to return to the conventional format consisting of 18-league teams as prescribed by the competition rules and for the sake of “fairness”.
“For me, it’s a one stream option as it gives you a real champion,” says Julius Dube, coach of Zizwe United.
“But it is no secret that club owners prefer the two streams because for them it is about saving money. It is no longer a complete league – it’s like a mini-league, plus a knock-out, because you have to play a final at the end to determine the ultimate winner,” said Dube.
Meanwhile his counterpart from FN Rangers, Arreshaat Daniels, added that both formats have their respective pros and cons.
“Honestly speaking, it doesn’t really matter, as these things are out of your control,” says Daniels.
“At the end of the day it is what you do on the field. But it is a known fact that one stream will have a huge impact on clubs with limited budgets, whereas it a sprint race with two streams with very little margin for error,” Daniels concluded.
Another coached who wished not to be named said it is a mockery how the rules of the constitution is not adhered to.
“There’s just no urgency or appetite to address the pertinent issues which affect matters on the field,” said the source.
Whilst uncertainly looms and the debate over one or two streams rages on, sanity prevailed in the Free State region when it was announced that they will revert back to the conventional approach with one stream.
