Fan's Guide to the PSL Motsepe Foundation Championship Senior 2026/27

Under NSL Handbook Rule 7.3, three clubs take part in the promotion play-off:

• the club finishing 15th in the Betway Premiership
• the clubs finishing 2nd and 3rd in the Motsepe Foundation Championship

The winner plays in the Betway Premiership the following season. The other two play in the Championship.

The detailed format is set in separate promotion play-off competition rules issued by the League. The Championship's foreign-player starting limit and Under-23 rule do not apply in the play-off (Rules 34.4 and 35.3).

Under NSL Handbook Rule 7.4:

• The clubs finishing in the last two positions (15th and 16th) of the Motsepe Foundation Championship are relegated to the SAFA promotional leagues.
• Two clubs from the SAFA promotional leagues earn promotion into the Championship in their place.

Coming down from above, the bottom club of the Betway Premiership is relegated into the Championship automatically (Rule 7.1), and the Premiership's 15th-placed club drops down too if it loses the promotion play-off.

The Championship uses the same order as the Betway Premiership (NSL Handbook Rule 8.2):

1. Goal difference in all league matches
2. Goals scored in all league matches
3. Head-to-head between the tied clubs: points, then goal difference, then goals scored in their matches against each other
4. If some clubs are still level, head-to-head is applied again to only those clubs, repeated as far as it goes
5. If still tied, a play-off at a neutral venue chosen by the League

Goal difference and goals scored are applied before head-to-head results.

Under NSL Handbook Rule 34:

• A foreign player is anyone who is not a South African citizen, unless they hold permanent residence.
• A club may have no more than 5 foreign players contracted at any time.
• In the Motsepe Foundation Championship, a club may include no more than 3 foreign players in its starting line-up for each match.

The starting limit does not apply in the National First Division qualification competition, the knockout competition involving both divisions, the promotion play-off or replacement competitions. (Betway Premiership clubs may field any number of their registered foreign players.)

Under NSL Handbook Rule 35, which applies only to the Championship (National First Division):

• Every team sheet must include at least 5 players who are Under-23 and eligible to represent South Africa.
• At least 2 Under-23 players must be on the field at all times.
• An Under-23 player is one who turns 22 on or after 1 January of the year the season starts. For 2026/27, which started in 2026, that means players born on or after 1 January 2004.
• It is not a breach if a team has used all its substitutions with only 2 Under-23 players on the field and one or both are then injured or sent off, leaving the team with 10 or fewer players.

The rule does not apply in the National First Division qualification competition, cup competitions involving both divisions, the promotion play-off or replacement competitions.

Under NSL Handbook Rule 31.5, the registration windows are:

• 1 July to 31 August (from the day after the season ends, if it runs past 30 June)
• January

Outside the windows, clubs may only register players who were out of contract when the last window closed, amateurs with a clearance certificate, or free agents (Rule 31.6).

Loans (Rule 39): no more than 3 loan players per window and 5 per season. A loan must start and end within a registration period, last at least from one window to the next, and can't run past the end of the player's contract with the loaning club.

Foreign players: no more than 5 contracted at any time (Rule 34.2).

The same NSL Handbook rules apply in both PSL divisions, counting matches in any League competition:

Red cards (Rule 53), including two yellows in one match:

• first of the season: 2-match ban
• each further one: 1 match longer than the previous ban

Yellow cards (Rule 54), counted over the season:

Yellows in a match where the player is sent off don't count, and the yellow card count resets each season. Unserved bans carry into the next season, and both bans and yellow card counts follow a player who moves club. The only review allowed is for mistaken identity.

Under the NSL Handbook:

• Matches are two halves of 45 minutes plus added time, with a 15-minute half-time break. The referee alone decides added time (Rule 13).
• Each match has a referee, two assistant referees and a fourth official (Rule 20.1). The referees and assistant referees are appointed by SAFA from the League panel, and SAFA also appoints a match commissioner (Rules 20.2 and 21).
• All matches follow the IFAB Laws of the Game (Rule 11), which for 2026/27 include the new ten-second substitution and five-second throw-in and goal-kick countdowns.
• Teams name 11 starters and 9 substitutes on the team sheet (Rule 16.2).

Under NSL Handbook Rule 14.11, the home club must provide at every match:

• its team doctor and physiotherapist
• at least one Advanced Life Support paramedic, from when the gates open until 1 hour after the match
• 2 stretchers, 2 spinal boards and 8 stretcher bearers
• a medical room and a dedicated ambulance throughout the match
• medical personnel and facilities for everyone at the ground, as the law requires

The one difference from the Betway Premiership: a separate doctor for spectators is not required at Motsepe Foundation Championship league matches or National First Division qualification competition matches (Rule 14.11.4).