Stadia difficulties to continue'

Premier Soccer League (PSL) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Trevor Phillips says that the stadium unavailability difficulties experienced in the first round of the 2006/07 Castle Premiership season are set to continue in the second round.

Phillips mentioned this during a Castle Premiership press conference held at the league's offices on Thursday.

"The second round is expected to be difficult in as far as stadium availability is concerned, we need greater coordination of activities between the local municipalities, the League and other vital stakeholders."

Many of the stadiums that have been used as venues for professional soccer matches are now under renovation in preparation for the next FIFA World Cup, which South Africa hosts in 2010.

Below is a summary of circumstances pertaining to the different stadia in - Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces - and also of the other matters he addressed during the press conference.

Gauteng
- Super Stadium will only be available until end of January 2007, undergoing rehabilitation. This means that Sundowns and SuperSport United are forced to look for new home venues.
- Tshwane Metro has confirmed that Pilditch Stadium is available. The Metro is putting a fence around the pitch.
- Consequently the situation has arisen whereby Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns and Supersport United share the usage of - Loftus Versfeld as their home venue.
- However, Loftus will not be available between 04 March to 04 April 2007, which forces the three teams to again relocate their home games.
- Because of the relocation, the teams have been allowed to choose proper venues to play the home matches.
- Huntersfield Stadium is not available from 01 February 2007, which means Jomo Cosmos must now look for a venue for its home games.

Western Cape
- Greenpoint Stadium is to be demolished, meaning that Ajax Cape Town and Santos must revert back to Athlone Stadium - which is also still undergoing rehabilitation.
- For the whole second round, both Ajax and Santos will play their matches at the Athlone Stadium.
- Because of the sharing of the facilities with other sporting stakeholders, agreements were entered into in relation to the dates soccer will use the stadium. That has been factored into the fixture list distributed today.

KwaZulu Natal
- King Zwelithini Stadium is unavailable due to installation of floodlights which has been completed.
- The pitch is being rehabilitated because it was destroyed by heavy duty vehicles during the implementation of the project. It will be available as from the 16th February 2007.
- Golden Arrows will be playing their matches at Chatsworth Stadium.