The wait is finally over for the SAB League provincial promotional playoff matches, which were originally scheduled to take place at Nkowankowa Stadium in Tzaneen last weekend. The games have now been rescheduled to be staged at the same venue this weekend.
The postponement was influenced by the fact that the Capricorn Regional Association had not yet produced their regional champions last week. A dispute between Mohlabile United FC and Lebash FC from the Capricorn Regional League required arbitration, which was set for Wednesday. The league's provincial coordinator, Ms Refiloe Khoza, advised Mohlabile and Lebash to continue their preparations for the playoffs, so they are ready in case the arbitrator rules in their favour.
Ms Khoza emphasised that the event would not be postponed again as the matter would be finalised on Wednesday (outcome not yet available at the time of writing). The champions of the other four regions are Sunrise FC (Waterberg), Kingborn FC (Sekhukhune), Mukula Young Santos (Vhembe), and Nkowankowa Continentals FC (Mopani).
The head coach of Mukula Young Santos, Mr Eric Nevhutanda, said that they were prepared to face any challenges that came with the promotional playoffs at the provincial level. The team has been training twice a day for the past three weeks to prepare for the annual event.
Each team will play four matches in the tournament, and the top two teams in the promotional playoffs will gain promotion to the ABC Motsepe League. Last year, United Artists represented the Vhembe Regional League and are now campaigning in the Limpopo Stream of the ABC Motsepe League, following their successful performance in the promotional playoffs.