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PSL defends MTN8 venue pick

Cape Town - Following public dissatisfaction regarding the venue for this year’s MTN8 final, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) has defended their decision to award Durban the chance to host another major Cup final.

The final of the R8 million competition will be played at the Moses Mabhida Stadium later this month.

It will be the second time in three years Durban will be hosting the showpiece.

The 85 000-capacity stadium has been the battle ground for a number of major PSL Cup finals since the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Complaints arose after Wednesday's announcement from around the country as to why the football governing body keeps utilising the stadium, when there are plenty of world class stadiums elsewhere.

Although the South African soccer fraternity assumed that the Moses Mabhida Stadium had become a permanent home of Cup finals in the country, the PSL’s media manager, Luxolo September, denied these suggestions and confirmed the PSL had requested a number of venues in the country to submit their presentations to host the Wafa-Wafa final, when contacted by Sport24.

"We do not have a venue that is first preference," September said.
 
"A number of venues were considered for the 2013/14 MTN8 final including Durban.

"There has been a lot of consultation between the PSL and stakeholders involved," added September.

September also revealed that although venues like the Cape Town Stadium, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Free State Stadium and the Peter Mokaba Stadium have a huge support base, like Durban, the PSL needed to consider certain aspects before deciding on the venue.

"There are a number of things we take into consideration before choosing a venue and that decision is influenced by a host of things."

"We did receive bids from a number of cities and we seriously considered them," September revealed.

The last time an MTN8 final was played at the Moses Mabhida Stadium was back in October 2010 when Orlando Pirates defeated Moroka Swallows 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 after extra-time.

The Moses Mabhida Stadium also hosted the last season’s Telkom Knockout final that saw Bloemfontein Celtic beat Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 courtesy of Joel Mogorosi header.

This year’s MTN8 final will be played on September 28.
 
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