Xavier Radio Ug News 24 7
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has criticised what he views as a lack of backing from the PSL after the club’s request to postpone their upcoming Betway Premiership fixture against Orbit College was declined.
The Portuguese tactician revealed that Sundowns approached Orbit in a bid to reschedule next week’s league encounter, hoping to secure additional preparation time ahead of their CAF Champions League home leg against Stade Malien.
However, Cardoso said the proposal was met with resistance, leaving the club to juggle domestic commitments with continental ambitions.
“We tried to push the Orbit match which is on Tuesday and we asked Orbit if we could play the game before then on Saturday or Sunday, but they didn’t agree.”
“They don’t want to help a team that is a South African representative and the only one left in the Champions League.”
Sundowns published their March fixture list on social media, confirming the clash against Orbit College at Royal Bafokeng Stadium on 10 March — just three days before hosting Stade Malien in the Champions League.
However, the PSL website has since removed the fixture Cardoso had indicated it would be staged at a “small venue”.
“They changed the venue and decided to take us to a smaller stadium because they say there’s a church event at the bigger one, so there are a lot of resources being put on the table to obviously try to get points from us.
“We will continue to do our best, let’s keep on securing points and in the end if we arrive in a position which allows us to get the first position on the table, we congratulate ourselves. If not, we congratulate the opponent. South Africa is going to enjoy this championship.”
Drawing on his time at Espérance de Tunis, Cardoso noted that clubs competing in CAF tournaments were routinely granted domestic fixture breaks to better balance their continental commitments.
Cardoso is concerned about player welfare.
“I don’t complain, I just state the things and I hope the players will give the answers we need to give so that we can be ready for the challenges ahead of us.”
www.sabcnews.com, https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/no-breathing-room-for-mamelodi-sundowns-after-orbit-snub/
