David Notoane, South Africa U23 coach, June 2019

Safa ask PSL to postpone fixtures ahead of 2019 U23 Afcon finals

The South African Football Association (Safa) are in talks with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) about changing league and cup fixtures.

The country's football governing body is looking to ensure South Africa Under-23 head coach David Notoane takes his best players to the 2019 Caf U23 Africa Cup of Nations finals next month.

In 2015, the two organisations worked together to help the national team qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil as matches were rescheduled.

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South Africa finished third at the 2015 U23 Afcon finals in Senegal and they qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games.

The PSL's acting chief executive officer Mato Madlala has now confirmed they held talks with Safa regarding the matter once again.

“I still have to present to my principals what we spoke about and can’t say anything at the moment,” Madlala told City Press.

Safa's acting chief executive officer Russell Paul is hopeful the negotiations will go well as South Africa look to qualify for the Olympic Games men's football tournament for the third time.

“Yes, we are in discussions with the NSL and the clubs, and we should be able to finalise the matter in the next week by finding [a way to make] the best players available for selection,” Paul told the same publication.

The 2019 U23 Afcon finals will be hosted by Egypt from November 8 to 22, but the tournament falls outside the Fifa calendar.

PSL and Telkom Knockout Cup matches are scheduled to be played during this period.

SuperSport United recently made it clear they will not release their players to the national team unless the PSL postpones their matches.

Their players - Teboho Mokoena, Sipho Mbule and Jamie Webber - are important members of Notoane's squad.

South Africa have been drawn in Group B together with Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Zambia.

The top three teams at the tournament will qualify to represent Africa at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

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