Since hearing that PSL chairman Irvin Khoza was going to be making a big announcement this week, I was waiting with baited breath.
Would there finally be a definitive answer to the question of the league title? The league and Mamelodi Sundowns are still set for arbitration over the Wayne Arendse ineligibility saga.
With the PSL appealing their Dispute Resolution Chamber’s (DRC) decision to only punish Downs with a monetary fine instead of docking points, South Africa’s top flight might still not have a legitimate champion.
But no. There was no answer and we’ve been waiting for the answer since May 11, when the league season ended without a resolution to the Arendse scandal.
Instead, Khoza announced that the MultiChoice Diski Challenge (MDC) was expanding.
Now, I’m all for the development of youth in South Africa, but what are the merits of the MDC?
Launched in 2014, it was a reserve league for PSL clubs and help them give their emerging talents the game time to improve.
But the jury is still out on whether that vision is being realised.
One area where we can see the fruits of the MDC is in the Amajita side.
Thabo Senong’s team qualified for the U20 World Cup in Poland, where they are currently
competing.
However, by the end of tonight when they take on Portugal in their final group game, their campaign could be over without a point.
With few of Senong’s kids playing for the first team in the PSL regularly, is the standard of the MDC really enough to warrant more matches at their current level?
My opinion is that the MDC is not enough on it’s own and the promotion of the youth into the PSL is paramount to raise the quality of our league.
It would be great if PSL clubs actually committed to promoting more kids from the MDC or the league make it compulsory to use U23 players like they do in the NFD.
But I doubt that any of these policies would be adopted with money always being the bottom line.
After all, the MDC only benefits PSL clubs, giving them more
support and TV time.