Cape Town City on Thursday became the first Absa Premiership club to announce a return to full training as the Premier Soccer League (PSL) begins the process of a return to competitive matches.
The Citizens made the announcement on their official Twitter account accompanied by pictures of first-team squad members arriving at the club's Hartleyvale training base.
The Absa Premiership will make a welcome return to competitive matches after more than 100 days without any soccer-related activity after the league ground to a halt on 15 March.
Teams will now follow CT City in returning to training after complying with safety protocols to ensure a safe return to the first phase of training ahead of resuming the 2019/2020 campaign.
The club confirmed it had received clearance from the PSL to commence full training, in accordance with Return to Training Directive.
"Congrats to management who have worked around the clock to ensure we are one of the first PSL clubs to be fully Covid compliant."
The PSL executive committee held a meeting yesterday on 1 July where it reportedly informed FIFA of its desired dates to resume and complete the 2019/2020 campaign.
Teams will also be allowed to now return to training once they have provided the necessary documentation to the PSL that they have fully prepared and complied to the necessary safety measures.
Soccer body CAF also reaffirmed its commitment to allow domestic leagues to be completed when it announced its decision to postpone a number of continental competitions, including the 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) until January 2022.
PLS chairperson Irvin Khoza, during the initial onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, confirmed that the league at first aimed to complete the current season by an initially flexible 31 July deadline before that changed to 31 August.
Boys arrive at Hartleyvale for the first day of full training ??#iamCityFC pic.twitter.com/EZgzgsqifE
— Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC) July 2, 2020
COVID CLEARANCE ?
— Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC) July 2, 2020
The club has received clearance to commence full training, in accordance with Return to Training Directive. Congrats to management who have worked around the clock to ensure we are one of the first PSL clubs to be fully COVID compliant.#iamCityFC#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/PfZ9qCBc0R
More to follow...