Premier Soccer League chairman Dr Irvin Khoza has announced a new knockout competition called the MultiChoice Diski Shield.

The new MultiChoice Diski Shield is an expansion of the MultiChoice Diski Challenge (PSL Reserve League).

The tournament will be comprised of 24 fixtures starting from 7 April 2018 which runs until May 2018.

Dr Khoza said: ‘With the inception of the MultiChoice Diski Shield, we have identified how many times our youth spend with the soccer ball between their legs as compared to other developed football nations and we realized that we are not putting (in) enough hours.

‘With the introduction of this competition, it will ensure consistency and help eliminate lapses and assist us in achieving our goals.’

Calvo Mawela, CEO of MultiChoice SA added: ‘We value our partnership with the PSL, which has now spanned over a decade. We believe it has made a significant contribution to the development and growth of football in South Africa.

‘The Diski Challenge has grown tremendously over the last four years and is now an intrinsic part of South African football. The Diski Shield will further contribute to the development of young players, to get them ready to take their spot in senior teams.’

The competition groups the 16 clubs into four regional pools namely, Central, Coastal West, Coastal East and Northern pool.

The Pools are as follows:

Central:

Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs, Platinum Stars and Bidvest Wits.

Coastal East:

AmaZulu, Golden Arrows, Maritzburg United and Chippa United.

Coastal West:

Cape Town City, Ajax Cape Town, Bloemfontein Celtic and Free State Stars

Northern:

Mamelodi Sundowns, SuperSport United, Polokwane City and Baroka.

Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix