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Johannesburg - South African soccer supporters will have to wait a while longer before they get the official PSL fixtures of the 2015/16 season after Wednesday's preliminary draw in Johannesburg.
Premier Soccer League general manager Derek Blanckensee revealed a new computerised system in which the draw was conducted.
While the fixtures for the season was calculated it still needed to be approved by the broadcasters and the different clubs before it could be officially announced later this month.
"We will not issue the fixtures list today because we still have to go an meet with the broadcaster and make some adjustments... then we send the fixtures out to clubs for feedback," Blanckensee said.
"Once we get the fixtures will go to the League's executive committee and hopefully they should be ready to be officially issued by the end of the month."
Defending champions Kaizer Chiefs will open the 2015/16 Premiership season with an away encounter against Chippa United in Port Elizabeth on August 8.
The PSL season will kick-off with the MTN8 quarter-finals on August 4 and 5 before the start of the League the following weekend.
The calculation was made to make special arrangements to avoid conflicts with FIFA weekends and CAF competitions this season.
The League will take a break between November 23 and December 15 should the Under-23 team reach the final stages of the CAF Under-23 Championship which is the final stage of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games qualifiers.
"We will assume that they will qualify for the Under-23 championship so there will not be any fixtures in that period," Blackensee said.
"If something happens and we don't win that then we will re-run the programme and change the schedule and it may change a lot of things which could offer more weekends which is ideal for the clubs."
In the past the draw was based on a fixed formula which created pre-fixed patterns with particular teams following each other in the fixtures.
After the break the season will continue with the 2015 Telkom Knockout final on December 16 with the Nedbank Cup running in March and April with the final scheduled for May 28, 2016.
After the December break the Premiership competition will recommence on the weekend of January 8, 9 and 10.
Preliminary fixtures for the 2015/16 Absa Premiership:
First round:
August 8
Free State Stars v Black Aces
Polokwane City v Bloemfontein Celtic
Platinum Stars v Mamelodi Sundowns
Chippa United v Kaizer Chiefs
August 9
Bidvest Wits v Ajax Cape Town
Golden Arrows v AmaTuks
August 10
Maritzburg United v Jomo Cosmos
August 11
SuperSport United v Orlando Pirates
