PSL 'guests' might be invited in future

The organisers of the lucrative pre-season encounter between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates have not closed the door on the possibility of inviting other PSL clubs to participate in the money-spinning off-season event in future.

The country's most popular clubs meet at FNB Stadium on Saturday in the latest instalment of the Carling Black Label Champion Cup and tickets to the event were sold out days ago.

But the game has critics and Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) events manager Puso Makume had to answer questions about the exclusion of other PSL clubs from an event that rakes in millions every year.

He said the door was not closed on the possibility of welcoming "guests" in the future.

''Carling Black Label is now the official alcohol sponsor of the Premier Soccer League and we do not know what that will bring," he said yesterday

''Our bosses, before they give us money to do something else, we need to first do the proper research to understand whether it will work."

Tickets to the match were sold out 12 days ahead of the encounter, despite a social media campaign to boycott the event.

Some fans still complain about the event seven years after its inception and argue that it should never have replaced what used to be the domestic season's traditional opener - the Charity Cup. But this does not seem to matter to the thousands who come to the venue every year.

Makume said AB InBev was not bothered when it heard about the campaign to boycott this year's game.

''[Social media campaigns] don't bother me because I believe this event is big enough to conquer that," he said.

''As you can see with the votes, as you can see with the tickets being sold out ... consumers are still going to come to this and I'm pretty confident that it will actually be full [on Saturday]."

Carling Black Label brand director Samori Gambrah said he expected votes to increase to 8 million. This is a massive improvement from the 3.5 million amassed last year.

This friendly match, nicknamed ''The Beer Cup" by soccer fans, has seen more people go through the FNB Stadium turnstiles than a Springboks vs New Zealand Test, Bafana Bafana matches, cup finals and even official league games between Chiefs and Pirates.

Strict traffic-control measures by the JMPD and Gauteng Traffic will be in operation around the stadium from 7am on Saturday.