Home Sport Soccer Unfair on Kaizer Chiefs, Ajax to nullify season, says Ari Efstathiou

Unfair on Kaizer Chiefs, Ajax to nullify season, says Ari Efstathiou

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Ajax Cape Town chairman, Ari Efstathiou, is against the idea of nullifying the PSL season.

DURBAN – Ajax Cape Town chairman, Ari Efstathiou, is against the idea of nullifying the Premier Soccer League (PSL) season.

There are negotiations involving the PSL, the South African Football Association and the Department of Health about resuming Absa Premiership and GladAfrica Championship action. The PSL has maintained that it intends to finish the league.

The Urban Warriors are at the summit of the GladAfrica Championship, seven points clear and favourites for promotion back to the elite league. They have been through trials and tribulations in the past 24 months, including their controversial relegation following contested matches they won with an improperly registered player. 

Efstathiou is eager to campaign in top flight football after Ajax were demoted to GladAfrica two seasons ago.

“It will be unfair to nullify the league for the guys that are on top. I don’t see any sense in that. It will favour the guys that did not try rather than those that worked hard. If you look at us, Swallows and Uthongathi FC, there’s no doubt that we all deserve to be in the top three. If you look at the ones at the bottom, they deserve to be at the bottom. It is not by chance. It is not that they have played less games,” Efstathiou said.

He equated the proposal – to consider nullifying the season – to a punishment to clubs that had executed their plans successfully.

“It is the last thing that must happen. If we had only played 50% of the games, then maybe (it would sound right). But we’ve played 80% of our games and we are seven points ahead,” Efstathiou said in an interview with South African Football Journalists Association.

“We’ve got four games at home and three away. Our home record is good. We also have a case with TS Sporting and Mbombela United which are unresolved. There is possibility of two points that can come our way. Obviously, if you speak to the teams that are at the bottom, they will have different views.

“Even if you look at Kaizer Chiefs, they have been leading the league for the past couple of months and maybe longer. Yes, the chasing pack is catching up. The bottom line is that they are four points ahead. It is not by luck but it is because they have been playing well,” Efstathiou explained.

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