since December 23, not a single minute of local football has been played

The PSL had already agreed to shorten the league season by around two months to accommodate Parreira's plans, as the Brazilian tries to build a formidable side for the World Cup. There is, however, some irony in the fact that since December 23, not a single minute of local football has been played, with the traditional Christmas break closely followed by the African Nations Cup in Angola.
South Africa did not qualify for the continental tournament, so was there really a need to stop the Premiership for such a long time, in such a cramped season? Some PSL clubs have lost foreign players to the Nations Cup, but this is the same for leagues all over Europe, and their seasons carry on regardless.

SuperSport coach Gavin Hunt believes the Premiership season could have been played during the Nations Cup, allowing Parreira even more time with Bafana. The current camp in Durban could easily have been moved to next month, with Bafana then moving seamlessly into their camp in Brazil.

"That was my argument from the start," said Hunt. "We should have played through January. It would have given Bafana more time. As soon as we knew South Africa were not in the Nations Cup, we should have done this. We could have played now on the back end of the Nations Cup ... and played only one or two games in February."

PSL CEO Siem, however, argued that this was simply out of the question.

"Number one, Parreira wanted to camp in January, and two, when we set the fixtures, we didn't know if Bafana had qualified or not (for the Nations Cup). Also, according to the rules, matches can be postponed if a club has two or more players on international duty. One week you would have a match, the next week nothing."

Siem says he empathises with Parreira, but added that the PSL had already stretched itself to its limits to accommodate the national team.

"The official Fifa date for squads to assemble is May 15. We have given Bafana three months ... we have done all we could. Caf came out with dates that meant we were unable to finish the season. If we were not accommodated, when could we finish?

"The problems South Africa are facing with their fixtures more than European countries is that our calendar does not fit in with Caf."

The PSL season will now finish on March 6, with Bafana expected to depart for Brazil on about March 8. The Telkom Knockout and Nedbank Cup will then take place without the PSL clubs' Bafana stars.

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