The South African Football Association (Safa) has explained why it is against giving the PSL the green light to resume the season this month.
The league proposed July 18 as the return date in their communication with Safa two weeks ago but this was rejected by the country's FA, citing the unavailability of referees as their main reason for not allowing competitive football to return.
However, it appears there is more to what Safa told the public on why football cannot return, according to what acting CEO Tebogo Motlanthe told Sun Sport.
Motlanthe said Safa doesn't want to be blamed for anything that could go wrong if football was to be played before August, suggesting the association isn't convinced that the league has complied with all the new regulations as set out by the government and the Joint Liaison Committee.
"We have to ask questions whether the league has complied instead of everyone throwing criticism because the government said we expect the report from Safa," Motlanthe told Sun Sport.
Motlanthe said Safa has only been told informally of the players who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
"There is no way Safa would take liability for what is happening in terms of clubs. We are told informally that players are testing positive," he confirmed.
Furthermore, Safa's argument is that the Ellis Park disaster which left 43 football fans dead in 2001 was pinned on them and not the PSL as the organisers, and they are avoiding a repeat of that.
"We have even given an example to say if Safa is wrong or right, let's remember what happened with the Ellis Park disaster," he said.
"Safa did not organise the Ellis Park game but when people died, who was made to account? It was Safa and not the league.
"We are saying, having learnt from the Ellis Park disaster, things should be done right. We don't want to lose lives again."
Motlanthe revealed Safa's stance is that the PSL should show them proof that they have complied with all the regulations before there can be talks about the return date."
"We're saying, show us that you have complied," concluded Motlanthe.
"Once we have ticked all the boxes then it's fine.
PSL chairman Dr Irvin Khoza revealed during his press conference last Monday that the league needs at least six weeks to finish the remaining matches of the suspended season and failure to resume this past weekend means the league has already fallen behind schedule.
Fresh media reports indicated on Sunday that the league is considering declaring the season null and void without crowning champions and relegating teams, but that is expected to be ironed out in one of the board of governors meetings expected to be held later this week.
This is because Khoza is having ongoing engagements with PSL sponsors on the way forward, and those talks are expected to take longer than expected.