As expected, Orlando Pirates have had a fixture reshuffle planted on their Betway Premiership home stretch path.
Pirates have for weeks been sitting on the fence in matters relating to the possibility of completing their league schedule, which will become definite if they reach the final of the CAF Champions League.
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The Buccaneers have played the least number of league games (minus Royal AM, whose case is still pending) at 20 and are now pressed for time to finish their fixtures.
As it stands, Jose Riveiro’s men will play Pyramids FC in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Friday night at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo, Egypt.
Upon their return, they will now host Sekhukhune United on Wednesday, April 30 at Orlando Stadium.
They were initially scheduled to play Magesi FC on the same date, but the game against the on-form Limpopo club, who have now won four in a row to move within two points of Kaizer Chiefs in position eight, has been rescheduled.
After that, they will have Chiefs on May 3, whose date and venue has not been tampered with since the initial fixtures were released at the beginning of the season.
Then straight after the Soweto Derby league meeting, Pirates will travel to Durban for their first league match of the season against Golden Arrows, which has now been squeezed in for May 6.
It will be played at Moses Mabhida, where they will also play the Nedbank Cup final against Chiefs four days later.
As of May 10, Pirates will have played 23 league matches and still have another five (minus the two games against Royal AM) to play for a league schedule still expected to end on May 24.
Those five will be against TS Galaxy (May 17), AmaZulu FC (May 24) plus SuperSport United, Magesi, and Arrows, who don’t have dates.
However, there could be further complications should Bucs reach the Champions League final.
In that case, it will mean the dates of May 23 and May 31 will be booked for the two legs of the continent’s premier club competition, which offers USD4 million (approx. R76 million) for the winners.
This will push the Usuthu game out of the way and leave Pirates only able to play two of out the five remaining league games before the end of May.
If knocked out of the Champions League, then Pirates will put the PSL in a better position on the domestic front in the bid to finish their league games.
The Soweto giants still have interest in determining the destiny of the league title.
June 2-10 is a FIFA date, while Sundowns will then leave for the FIFA Club World Cup in USA to run from June 14 – July 13.
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As has been tradition and for the sake of fairness, the League had planned to play the last two league games on the same dates and times.
Unfortunately, that will not be the case with Royal AM’s issue having left the league with an odd number of teams.
