Dr Irvin Khoza announced that the Premier Soccer League has come under threat of losing their exclusivity to sell their broadcasting rights independently, following proposed amendments to the regulations of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).

PSL chairman Dr Irvin Khoza made the announcement at a press briefing following the NSL board of governors meeting on Tuesday.

The ICASA plans to amend it’s public broadcasting regulations by including all national football under the framework that regulates the free-to-air rights of sports in the country.

This means that the PSL will forfeit their rights to independently sell the broadcasting rights as their source of income to the likes of South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC) and SuperSport.

Khoza insisted that if the new recommendations by the ICASA came into law, the PSL could risk losing their revenues by at least 80%, and could lead to the downfall of the PSL and the clubs, who depend on the organisation as a source of income.

The ICASA initially set a deadline for any submissions to its proposed amendments for February 2019, but the deadline has since been moved up to March this year.

‘If the new recommendations by ICASA came into law, we are at risk to lose our revenue by at least 80%,’ Khoza said.

‘It is not feasible for ICASA to want all football rights in the country, domestic and national to be free, as that will be the end of the professional game in the league.

‘By doing this, ICASA will threaten what we have worked so hard to achieve, and that is exclusivity of our attractive product.

‘No broadcast rights means far less remuneration for the clubs, who will have to cut their staff to the bone and far more players will be unemployed. There will be a mass retrenchment.’