Mamelodi Sundowns’ domestic schedule has been placed on suspense with the CAF Champions League fixtures continuing to be of priority in their fixtures programme.
Sundowns are through to the semis of the Champions League and will play serial winners Al Ahly over two legs in determining who then proceeds to the final.
READ | Al Ahly coach: Four tough matches remaining
Pretoria will host the first leg on April 18-19 with the second leg in Cairo on April 25-26.
The consequence of this is that both their league matches scheduled for the month of April against Royal AM (April 18) and Richards Bay FC (April 26) will have to make way.
Upon their return from the long trip to Tunis, where they played Esperance on Tuesday, the Tshwane giants have Nedbank Cup semi-finals commitments on Sunday against Kaizer Chiefs.
Should they win that game, then they will set up a place in the final against either Orlando Pirates or Marumo Gallants, to be played on May 10.
Then, should they get past Al Ahly, they will also be in the Champions League final with the dates of May 24 and June 1 taken for the continental decider.
The Brazilians will then depart for the Club World Cup in USA from June 14-July 13 after the June FIFA dates (June 2-10).
They last played a league match in a 2-1 defeat to Orlando Pirates on March 16 and will play their next more than a month later.
With seven league games left to play, the scheduling of those games will stress the PSL, whose plan is to end the domestic league on May 24 with the last two matches for all clubs played on the same day and at the same time.
A chain of changes is then expected for Sundowns fixtures depending on what happens in the Champions League and Nedbank Cup.
There is a similar situation with Pirates, who play in the Champions League on Wednesday and the Nedbank Cup on Sunday and still have 10 league games to play.
For Sundowns, as it stands, the dates for their league matches could be April 30/May 1, May 4 (already confirmed for Golden Arrows), midweek (May 7), before the Nedbank Cup final depending on whether they make it to that medals match.
READ: Downs with advantage over Al Ahly in push for R78,5 million
Then there is the midweek (May 14) after that final, and May 17 (already confirmed for Magesi FC), which will cater for five of their remaining league games if they reach both the Champions League and Nedbank Cup finals.
Minus the Royal AM match, there will still be need to squeeze in a sixth league match.
The issue of Royal AM will give the league further headaches with their planned dismissal set to create an odd-number league.
