The South African Football Association (Safa) says it has to make sure that the Premier Soccer League has complied with coronavirus protocols because the association is not willing to accept the liability of a rushed restart, adding that it had learned from the Ellis Park disaster and don’t want to lose lives.

The league had hoped to get back up and running by 18 July but this was quickly rejected by Safa, who stated that the unavailability of referees as the main reason for not allowing competitive football to return.

However, Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe painted a different picture in an interview with the Sunday Sun, claiming that the country’s FA does not want to get the blame should the coronavirus claim the lives of people within football and as such want each club to prove their Covid-19 protocols are in place.

‘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 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. Once we have ticked all the boxes then it’s fine,’ the CEO concluded.

The completion of the 2019-20 season is thus still up in the air with PSL chairman Dr Irvin Khoza saying during his news conference last Monday that the league needs at least six weeks to finish the remaining matches and would have needed to start last weekend.

However, new media reports indicate that the league is now 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.