The South African Football Association (SAFA) acting chief executive officer Tebogo Motlanthe has dismissed talk of abandoning football in South Africa this season as a "rumour".

Both the Absa Premiership and GladAfrica Championship have been suspended for over four months as a result of the coronavirus.

The Premier Soccer League's proposed restart date of July 18 was pushed back to August 1 to allow time for SAFA to prepare referees and officials.

Speaking to TimesLIVE, Motlanthe said his organisation are committed to seeing out the current campaigns.

He explained: "This is just a rumour at this stage but if it happens it will be sad for football.

"Our position is that the league must continue and play to a finish. We are saying that the league can start on the 1st of August and we believe that other issues are manageable.

"We have already started preparation of the referees‚ they will arrive at the camp in batches and I want to assure everyone that the match officials will be ready come 1 August 2020 when the PSL kicks off."

FIFA has granted SAFA permission for the league to continue past August, with the league needing at least six weeks to conclude.

Motlanthe added: "As far as the resumption is concerned‚ the league is talking to its stakeholders and we are waiting on the league.

- TEAMtalk media