The Premier Soccer League (PSL), in partnership with DStv is thrilled to officially announce an exciting innovation, the DStv Compact Cup.

Since partnering with the PSL in September 2014 to deliver the MultiChoice Diski Challenge, now DStv Diski Challenge – a platform that allowed young talent to showcase their skills - the two parties have always looked at innovative ways in which they could uplift and grow football in South Africa. This partnership further grew with the announcement of DStv as the flagship sponsor of South Africa’s premier football division. This marked an elevation of South Africa’s Premier Soccer League bringing together the best of sport and entertainment.

Themed as “The Viewers’ Choice”, the DStv Compact Cup is another exciting PSL and DStv innovation that brings viewers even closer to the game by making their voices heard and giving them a feel of the revered coaches seat.

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The DStv Compact Cup is set to take place over the last two weekends of January 2022, where viewer, coach and player collaboration will be paramount, as the PSL divides its 16 member clubs into four regions, comprising of two inland and two coastal regions, as follows:

• Coastal Group 1: AmaZulu FC; Golden Arrows FC; Maritzburg United; Royal AM FC
• Coastal Group 2: Cape Town City FC; Stellenbosch FC; Chippa United FC; Baroka FC (exception)
• Inland Group 1: SuperSport Utd; Mamelodi Sundowns FC; Marumo Gallants; Sekhukhune Utd
• Inland Group 2: Orlando Pirates FC; Kaizer Chiefs FC; Swallows FC; TS Galaxy FC

From the 13^th of December until 19 December 2021, fans will be given the reigns to suggest team names as part of the DStv Compact Cup via the SuperSport and DStv social media pages (Facebook and Twitter).

Then, from the 20^th of December 2021 to the 3^rd of January 2022, football fans across the country will have the opportunity to choose their favourite players from these teams using a safe and secure USSD code to form the regional DStv Compact Cup squad. All premier division players, with the exception of those selected for AFCON, will be eligible for selection.

The final squad lists will be announced on the 5^th of January 2022 with voting for the starting line-ups commencing on the same day and closing on the 12^th of January 2022.

Speaking at the official launch of the innovative competition at the PSL Headquarters in Parktown, Johannesburg, chairman of the PSL, Dr Irvin Khoza said:

“This is yet another amazing innovation. It will be refreshing that the responsibility of team selection, technical team and name choice will reside with the fans. The roles are now reversed, and we will come out better informed about the fans’ understanding of player chemistry through their team selections. “

Dr Khoza’s sentiments were also echoed by Chief Executive Officer for Multichoice South Africa Nyiko Shiburi, adding that the disruptive innovation comes at an opportune moment where viewers have been starved of close interaction with their stars since the pandemic outbreak.

“We are truly excited to be creating such a powerful fan and club interaction platform in the DStv Compact Cup. We trust this to be a true game-changer for South African football as it affords all fans of the 16 member clubs of the PSL an equal voice, while also challenging them to occupy the coach’s seat and lead their stars from the safety and comfort of their homes”, said Nyiko Shiburi.

The winner of the innovative tournament will take home one million rands. Furthermore, a lucky football fan that is also a DStv Compact subscriber stands a chance to win a million Rand by simply participating in the voting process. An amount of five thousand rands would be on offer for non-Compact subscribers’ winners.

The PSL will soon be announcing all the details of how fans can actively get involved in the competition. This will be in addition to the various DStv Compact Cup fan engagement activities that will be rolled out throughout the festive season.

For more information on the DStv Compact Cup, visit www.supersport.com/dstvcompactcup