How does South Africa's senior top-flight Betway Premiership work? The log and tie-breakers, relegation and the play-off, substitutes, foreign players, card suspensions, walk-overs, abandoned matches and transfer windows.
Under the NSL Handbook, the PSL (the National Soccer League) has two divisions: the Premier Division, played as the Betway Premiership, and the National First Division, played as the Motsepe Foundation Championship (Rule 3).
Fixtures, kick-off times and venues are set by the League (Rule 9.3). All matches are played under the IFAB Laws of the Game (Rule 11).
Under NSL Handbook Rule 8.2, clubs level on points are separated in this order:
Note that goal difference and goals scored come before head-to-head.
Under NSL Handbook Rule 7:
The detailed play-off format is set by separate competition rules issued by the League.
Under NSL Handbook Rule 13, every PSL match is two halves of 45 minutes with a 15-minute half-time interval. The referee is the sole judge of time, including added time.
Under IFAB Law 7 (2026/27), the referee adds time for substitutions, injuries, time-wasting, cards, drinks breaks, goal celebrations and other delays. The fourth official shows the minimum added time at the end of each half; the referee can add more but not less.
Each match has a referee, two assistant referees and a fourth official. The referees and assistant referees are appointed by SAFA from the League panel (Rule 20).
On the team sheet: each club names 11 starters and 9 substitutes (NSL Handbook Rule 16.2).
In the match: the IFAB Laws of the Game (Law 3.2, 2026/27), which all PSL matches follow, allow no more than five substitutes to be used in an official competition. In top-division club competitions using five substitutes, each team gets:
Several changes at the same stoppage count as one opportunity.
New for 2026/27, a substituted player must be off the field within ten seconds of the board going up, or the substitute has to wait until the first stoppage after one minute of play.
In cup ties that go to extra time, such as the Carling Knockout, each club also gets one extra substitute and one extra opportunity.
Under NSL Handbook Rule 34:
(In the Motsepe Foundation Championship, only 3 foreign players may start a league match.)
To register a foreign player, the club must show they may lawfully work in South Africa for the full contract. If the work permit hasn't arrived when the window closes, proof of the application is enough to register, but the player can only play once the permit is received (Rule 31.8.7).
Under NSL Handbook Rule 53, a player sent off (a straight red card, or two yellows in the same match) is automatically suspended for the team's next matches in any PSL competition:
A ban not fully served by the end of the season is completed at the start of the next season. A red card in a match abandoned before full time still counts. A suspension follows the player if they move club, and the same rule applies to coaches and club officials sent off.
Under NSL Handbook Rule 54, yellow cards across all PSL competitions in a season add up:
| Yellow cards in the season | Suspension |
|---|---|
| 4 | 1 match |
| 8 | 1 match |
| 12 | 3 matches |
| Every further 4 | 1 match longer than the last ban |
Under NSL Handbook Rule 15, teams must be in the dressing rooms at least 70 minutes before kick-off. If a match isn't played because a team arrives late or doesn't arrive:
It depends on why the match was abandoned (NSL Handbook Rule 14):
Floodlight failure, or safety and security reasons:
Weather, the state of the pitch or any other reason:
Night matches need an average of at least 600 lux, with no point below 500 lux, from 90 minutes before kick-off.
Under NSL Handbook Rule 31.5, players can be registered in two periods:
If the last day falls on a weekend or public holiday, the window is extended to the next day, and on the last day documents can be lodged until midnight.
Outside the windows, clubs may sign only players who were out of contract when the previous window closed, amateurs with a clearance certificate, or players declared free agents (Rule 31.6). Clubs playing in CAF club competitions may also register players from 1 to 12 December, but those players can only play from 1 January (Rule 31.7).
Loans are limited to 3 per window and 5 per season (Rule 39.5).
No. Under NSL Handbook Rule 51.2, a protest will not be entertained if it relates to a decision of the referee or assistant referee made during the match, because those decisions are final. The same applies to complaints (Rule 52.1.3).
Clubs can protest about other breaches of the Handbook in a match, such as an ineligible player. That protest must be made to the referee and opposing captain at the match, followed by a written protest and a R20,000 plus VAT fee within 24 hours (Rule 51).
The only review of a card is for mistaken identity, which a club may request in writing from the SAFA Referees' Review Committee (Rules 53.9 and 54.12).
Under NSL Handbook Rule 58.2, if an ineligible player takes part in a match, which includes simply being on the team sheet or the substitutes' bench at any time, the club that fielded them:
The player can also be sanctioned.
An opponent who suspects a player is ineligible must lodge a written objection with the referee and the opposing captain at least 30 minutes before kick-off to protest at the match (Rule 51.3). A complaint about a player's registration can also be laid within 40 days of the close of the registration period in which the player was registered (Rule 52.2).