SuperSport United head coach Gavin Hunt has echoed the sentiments of Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos, on a plea to stop PSL action in mid-December to give the national team enough time to prepare for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Broos has expressed his displeasure with the PSL schedule as DStv Premiership matches are set to go on as far 31 December, while Bafana are look set to go into camp on 4 January 20, giving players less than a week of rest before camp.
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"It would have been very good for those players to get six to seven days off if the PSL was going to be stopped on the 23rd as I requested at the end of last season," Broos said in October.
"I didn't wait for two days — immediately after the end of last season, we sent the letter asking them to stop the PSL on the 23rd.
"The reason is to give the players some time off for six to seven days. Did they read the letter? I don't know. They ignored it. When the programme came out, the first thing I checked was when the league was going to stop."
Matsatsantsa coach Hunt, who saw four of his players named in the initial 50-man preliminary squad, has expressed sympathy for Broos.
"Of course, we are happy (to have players in the national team)," Hunt said after Friday's 2-1 win over Moroka Swallows.
"You try and get in as many as you can in there.
"If you look at the list, he (Broos) is going to have a bit of a headache. I don't know why they ask for so many, you are going to create a headache now when you leave someone, that press conference, poor Hugo, geez.
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"They will slaughter him in that press conference because whoever you put in, there is one that you will leave out. Why not just announce the squad, 23 players [that are going to AFCON], that's it. Then two or three subs or whatever.
"I don't think we are helping him, the league should finish earlier. I mean geez, they will have no preparation.
"But I wish them well. We need our national team to be better and achieve more and I think they can.
The squad will be trimmed down to 23 players that will head to Ivory Coast where Bafana kick-off their Afcon campaign against Mali on 16 January.
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