Doc fumes over fixture

Doctor Khumalo yesterday slammed as "senseless" soccer bosses' refusal to move Kaizer Chiefs' match on Friday.

Chiefs are scheduled to play Wits in a Telkom Knockout match just two days after six of their players return home from matches for Bafana against Poland in Warsaw and Kenya in Nairobi.

Khumalo, a former Bafana player and now assistant to Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter, said yesterday that staging the clash so soon after the players' return "did no justice to the game".

"Whoever from the cup committee took this decision did not apply logic," said Khumalo. "No one seems to have taken into account the fact that we have more than eight players doing duty for their respective national teams."

The six Chiefs players who have toured with Bafana are Itumeleng Khune, Eric Mathoho, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Siphiwe Tshabalala, George Lebese and Bernard Parker.

Kingston Nkatha and Lincoln Zvasiya have also been away, with Zimbabwe in qualifiers for next year's Nations Cup..

"It was senseless and no justice has been done to the game, or Chiefs. We would have liked to see the PSL acknowledge that we have players in the national team serving their country," Khumalo said.

The PSL said Amakhosi were not the only team affected by the Bafana matches.

They had complained about the Friday-night fixture when the dates for the Telkom Knockout matches were announced last week. But shifting the games around would have "inconvenienced everyone", the league said.

"It is not only Chiefs who have players in the national team because there are also players from Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates who are scheduled to play on Saturday," said PSL spokesperson Connie Motshumi.

"We received their letter last week and immediately wrote back to say we would not be making any changes."

Khumalo said Chiefs would have to soldier on regardless and hope their key players would not suffer injuries while playing for Bafana.

"Preparing for the match was not our major concern, but rather the mental readiness of the players, especially if the national team results did not boost their morale," said the man who made 50 appearances for Bafana.

"I don't think we will have enough time to even shift their mind-set from Bafana because Chiefs don't play like the national team."