Moorosi Tsiane
FORMER Kick4Life director of football, Chris Bullock has applauded the Premier League Management Committee (PLMC) for recommending that the league be ended in its current state.
Bullock said this on Friday in an interview with the Sunday Express.
The PLMC made the recommendation to the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) last Thursday after meeting with the 14 league teams. The teams made the recommendation on the basis that the teams were likely to face financial challenges in trying to meet the strict regulations required to play sports in the current Covid-19 pandemic.
However, it is yet to be determined whether or not current leader Bantu will eventually be crowned champions. A Matšo Matebele were leading the league table with 50 points from 18 matches before the league was halted in mid-March amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Bullock said he was in support of the suggestions because they would give clubs a degree of financial relief.
“I can completely understand why the PLMC teams would want to end the season now and I agree with them,” Bullock said.
“Given all the uncertainties regarding the resumption of sports, resuming the league would hurt teams financially as they would need to extend players’ contracts while they would not be making any money from gate takings. Already, several teams are releasing players.”
Apart from that, teams would need to adhere to certain hygienic and safety conditions which are costly.
He also feels the decision must be inclusive of all football stakeholders as they too would be affected.
Instead of ending the league in its current state, Bullock suggested that the league employs the points per game (PPG) method where some teams have played less games.
“The PPG has been used in other leagues like in England’s lower divisions where some teams would have played less games. I agree that two teams should be promoted while two more should be relegated as per the norm.
“While I understand that it would be very unfortunate for a team like Lijabatho which still had a chance to maintain its league status, relegation and promotion must go ahead to avoid an imbalance in the lower leagues. This is why it is crucial to engage all the stakeholders.”
He said increasing the league teams to 16 could also strain the teams as each would need to play an extra four matches per season. This could also negatively affect the quality of the league.
Bullock said the decision came at the right time when teams’ respective management needed to come up with a way forward.
“The whole episode has proven the need for constant communication between the leagues and their associations to come up with the best decisions for clubs and the sport in general,” Bullock said.