BREAKING NEWS: TS Galaxy Queens forfeit points as they fail to arrive on time against UWC

Scheduled for 15h00 on Saturday (20 July 2024), the hosts had to wait for more than half an hour with the Mpumalanga outfit nowhere in sight.

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“TS Galaxy Queens failed to arrive on time for their match against UWC. UWC honoured the match and took to the pitch. Therefore, the match is declared as a walkover. UWC will receive three points from this encounter,” said the league in a statement.

 SABC Sport understands that the challenge with TS Galaxy Queens started last week when they mistakenly bought flight tickets for this fixture (vs UWC), which they believed was taking place this past Saturday (13 July 2024), but later learnt that they had a wrong date.

 They then purchased tickets for the correct match date and were to travel on matchday, but their two-hour flight, meant to depart at 10h00, could only take off at midday – leaving them with little room to manoeuvre and were thus unable to make the 3pm kickoff. They arrived more than half an hour late.

In the meantime, at the UWC Stadium, the hosts had their warm-up as per schedule and waited until eventually the match commissioner called off the encounter as a walkover for the Capetonians, earning them an easy three points.

 The Blue Diamonds are now on 44 points, just three behind log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies after 18 matches played. The University of Johannesburg is third on 39 points, followed by JVW on six adrift. TS Galaxy remains sixth on 31 points, level with fifth-placed Royal AM.

 The drama in Cape Town comes at a time when women’s football is struggling for financial support, with sponsors nowhere in sight – with the exception of Hollywoodbets and Sasol - and this latest incident will no doubt dent the image of the league.

 As if that was not enough, there is still no word from the South African Football Association (SAFA) regarding a brawl back in April this year when the players of newly promoted Lindelani Ladies as well as Royal AM were involved in a fistfight in a match broadcast live on television. This led to the referee handing out five red cards to the two teams.