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Safa has warned that it will not put the ABC Motsepe League national playoffs on hold at the Mthatha Stadium despite some outstanding cases in other provinces.
The playoffs start from Monday and run until June 7.
Teams from six provinces were confirmed at the third-tier competition’s draw at Safa House in Johannesburg on Tuesday:
- the Eastern Cape’s FC Ravens;
- Mangaung United (Free State);
- Hope FC (Western Cape);
- Mpheni Defenders (Limpopo);
- NWU Soccer Institute (North West); and
- NC Professionals (Northern Cape).
Mpumalanga, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal still don’t have representatives because of disputes.
With a week remaining until the playoffs, Safa competitions committee chair Kwenza Ngwenya said they will not postpone the event. He said the disputes between the clubs are a delaying tactic to destabilise the playoffs.
“We are worried about this thing of cases. This thing is becoming a norm; every season at the end, there will be cases where I don’t know whether they are intending to delay the playoffs,” he said.
We have taken a decision as Safa that playoffs will never be delayed by any sort of problem from the provinces caused by the teams
— Kwenza Ngwenya, Safa competitions committee chair
“If you look at some cases, you will be like, ‘There is no case here,’ but it is the people’s right to protest and go to arbitration. But we have taken a decision as Safa that playoffs will never be delayed by any sort of problem from the provinces caused by the teams.
“After all, we need two teams to promote to the above league. If we have five teams that are ready, we will go to playoffs and play in order to discourage those fighting.”
Safa has walked the path already before, in 2025. Despite severe administrative and legal battles, Safa proceeded with the playoffs, with some provinces missing. That list included the Eastern Cape.
The province has a team this time, though. Bizana’s Ravens were drawn with Mangaung United and Hope FC in Group B. It will be the first time Ravens represent the Eastern Cape at the playoffs, and they will be eyeing one of the final two spots to be promoted to the Motsepe Championship Foundation (former NFD), joining another Eastern Cape team, Highbury. Ravens qualified for the playoffs after beating Gqeberha’s Old Grey.
Mangaung are an experienced team at the playoff level, while Hope from the Western Cape will make their debut. Despite winning the Free State championship on numerous occasions, Mangaung have stumbled at the playoffs, with 2021 being the most recent occasion where they lost to Hungry Lions on penalties in the semifinals.
Hope entered the third-tier league this season and outperformed traditional Western Cape heavyweights such as Cape Town Spurs and Santos to make it. They have experience with PSL names such as Craig Martin, Clayton Daniels, Dean Solomons and Ayanda Patosi.
Group A consists of North West University and reps from Mpumalanga and Gauteng, while Group C will be made up of Mpheni Defenders, NC Professionals and a KwaZulu-Natal team.
Daily Dispatch
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