On the 11th of August 2019, the Executive Committee of PLFA had its ordinary meeting, deliberating on various aspects of the management, operations and administration of football in Phelindaba. Amongst the many matters discussed, the following were decided upon, and for the public consumption.
Junior Leagues
The first round of the leagues of the association will be completed on the 18th of August 2019. A fixture for the second round has been drafted already. Second round games will not be fixed on home ground bases, but on the expedient shuffle to ensure that the league completes in October 2019.
The commencement and re-arrangement of the second round will be affected by the payment of debts by Member. See Finance here-below for more details.
Senior Leagues
Super League will commence in October. Participating teams needs to start with the registration of teams, officials and players by following the instruction on this link: http://plfa.org.za/office/registration/
The Registration Fee for Super is tentatively set at R4,400.00. The good news is that the registration fee amount depends on the number of teams registering. If 16 teams register for the 2019 / 2020 season, then the Registration Fee will be R4,400.00, payable upfront. However, should the teams registering be lesser, the registration amount also reduces. Those who might have paid will get a refund, or their credit will be used for something else, depending on what both parties agreed upon.
To confirm, Mr Makgopa has been seconded by the Executive Committee to provide leadership in the Leagues and Competitions structures. He takes over from Mr. Jabu Maselela, who is no longer a member of the Executive Committee. The committee thanks the service provided by Mr. Maselela whilst he was still a member.
Referees
The association is facing a mammoth task of turning around the operations of the Referees structure. Ms Kelebogile Lefhiedi, who is our 3rd Vice Chairperson, has been seconded to assist in the leadership of the Refereeing structures until further notice.
Ms Lefhiedi is a renowned Match Official in her own right. She serves in the regional and the provincial refereeing structures and flies our flag up high even at national, when she serves as the Match Commissioner for PSL matches, as high profile as they get. The EXCO urges all members to support her as she rolls up her sleeves to help here locally.
Referees meetings will take place every Monday. There will be two sets of meetings, one for junior Match Officials which will start earlier, at 17h30, and the one for the senior which will start at 18h30. All clubs are urged to send Match Officials to these meetings. Clubs who do not comply will be fined, Should they still not send Match Officials after two times having being fined, they will be summoned to Disciplinary Hearings. These are expensive process and we urge clubs no to get to that level.
Match Officials are urged to open bank accounts. Bank accounts are made more available these days with the emergence of the likes of Capital Bank, Tyme Banks, etc. The reason for this is that it is expensive for the association to pay Match Officials on the cell phones than through bank accounts. Ms Lefhiedi is going to hand out Match Official Registration Forms. Match Officials are urged to complete those and return them, ensuring that those reflect their correct bank accounts. It is acceptable for a Match Official to submit a parent’s bank account. In two months’ time, the association will cease to pay Match Officials via cell phones.
There will be a Provincial Referees Workshop on the 17th and 18th of August in Johannesburg. Match Officials from Pheli must please ensure that they comply here locally in order to obtain reference letters from the association, otherwise without those, they will not be able to participate at the province, even at the workshop.
Match Official for the local fixtures will be determined and appointed during the Monday Referees Meetings. Match Officials need to be at the meeting in order to be assigned appropriately. The assignment of Match Officials to local fixtures will be published on the association’s Website every Wednesday. The association will follow through with the appointments to ensure that all appointments are honoured. This is bit one of the reforms in the structure.
Finance
The association is experiencing its difficult time financially, with the threat of collapse. See some financial information on this link: http://plfa.org.za/office/finance/
The link above contains information about debts. The association is being owed R64,000.00 by its members. As it is, R32,000.00 of this money is in arears. It expects that R49,000.00 will be paid in by the end of August.
The association has started levying interest on overdue amounts. This is truly an unnecessary event for clubs as the debt increases. The interest levied is fully supported through the Treasury Policy, which was promulgated early this year. It ensures that the association is not taken for granted whilst it is being owed.
During October 2019, the association plans to hold an Award Ceremony, where each deserving clubs gets paid their prizes in full. Therefore recovery of this money is crucial. Award Ceremony is one of the esteemed events of the association for which it prides itself in honouring achievements in our football. The ceremony must happen.
To prevent further stalling with the payments of the debts, the Executive Committee has decided the following:
- As at the 19th of August, any Member is still in arrears on their instalment will be immediately suspended;
- On the 20th of August 2019, the Leagues and Competitions Committee will re-draft the block fixture that will run up until the 22nd of September 2019 with only the ‘In Good Standing’ Members.
- If by the 18th of September 2019 a suspended Member has not remediated the financial situation, such a member will be withdrawn from all the leagues for the remainder of the season, and the points of the remainder of the matches will be awarded to the remaining Members, provided that such remaining members are ‘In Good Standing’.
- The debts will remain and affected members will have to still pay those, and pay the Affiliation Fee for 2020 in order to be “in Good Standing’ for 2020 as well.
The above resolution of the Executive Committee will also be crafted in a Circular and communicated to all members of the association for formality.
Mbolekwa Ground
Mbolekwa Ground is now no longer regarded as playable by SAFA standards. The association is in the process of arranging a meeting with the City of Tshwane to ensure that attention is given to the turf. This is being expedited.
With immediate effect, all training activity need to stop at Mbolekwa. A letter to those who use Mbolekwa will be sent and compliance is expected accordingly.
The association will write to the region to inform them that Mbolekwa is no longer playable. A meeting with the Higher Leagues Members will be called to discuss the alternatives.
In the meantime, the association will have a discussion with the City of Tshwane and Blue Bulls to have the Rugby Ground made available for SAB League games. Same engagement will be held with Tshwane University of Technology.
Masupha Grounds
The Executive Committee has resolved to improve its relationship with the Titans, and as a consequence thereof, to request all its affiliates to no longer train at the Oval at Masupha Ground. Letters will be written to such affiliates. Head of Football will engage with each affected affiliate.
The above is to enable PLFA to have an option to continue to use the Oval’s Ground A and Ground B when required. Such can work well if the association has a good reciprocal relationship with the Titans and the City of Tshwane.
December Games
It is the resolution of the association through its Ordinary Congress for the association to take over the hosting of tournaments in December. This is not to take over the tournaments of LMMGG and LMYD / Little Maestro. They can still continue to host their competitions using different grounds than those that will be used by PLFA.
The committee has however requested that the readiness of the association to host the competition this year be examined. The Secretary will lead in that process.
Meetings will be arranged with LMYD / Little Maestro and LMMGG to conclude on this matter.
For further information, send inquiries to info@plfa.org.za, or leave a comment here-below.
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