HIGH HOPES FOR NEW S.A. SEASON!

High hopes for new SA season.
Mark Gleeson Football Writer, Johannesburg.

Soccer City hosts Saturday's season-opening Charity Spectacular. The new South African season kicks off on Saturday with football increasingly dominating the national psyche. But with the 2010 World Cup firmly on the agenda, the Premier League faces a more severe test of its credibility over the next nine months. The new season gets underway with the Charity Spectacular featuring the country's most popular teams. A capacity crowd of 75,000 is expected to flock to Soccer City, on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

The four teams taking part in the season-opener are Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Bloemfontein Celtic and PSL champions Mamelodi Sundowns. The Charity Spectacular traditionally offers a chance to look at early season form and is usually the forum where teams unveil their new signings. There has again been no end to the signings by all 16 PSL clubs over the last few weeks in preparation for the new campaign.

At least 80 foreign players from destinations as far afield as Mauritius, Sudan, Venezuela and France are on the books of PSL teams. The PSL has, indeed, become a conduit point for African talent seeking to go on to Europe. Examples in recent years are the Zimbabwean Benjani Mwaruwari, a former Footballer of the Year during his time at Jomo Cosmos.

Zambia's Collins Mbesuma and the Russian-based Malawi striker Esau Kanyenda have also used the PSL as a stepping stone to greener pastures in Europe. South African clubs can now afford more forays into the African hinterland in search of players as their resources grow on the back of increasing commercial interest, itself fuelled by the upcoming 2010 World Cup finals.
Television rights also earn the PSL enough to grant each club a monthly stipend of US$50, 000.
This may be small change for the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona and AC Milan but it is a lot of buying power for PSL teams.

Despite all this increasing interest, the PSL still fails to convince spectators into the stadiums with some matches attract crowds of less than 500 spectators. It is only on rare occasions like the Charity Spectacular this Saturday that people are prepared to come out in huge numbers.

BBC NEWS REPORT.