The 2025/26 Betway Premiership Awards nominees amount to little more than a participation trophy for a league that has lost its competitive heartbeat. Every category reads like a Mamelodi Sundowns internal memo, with Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs reduced to footnotes. Lucas Ribeiro and Khuliso Mudau are deservedly nominated, but their brilliance masks a system in which 14 other clubs are racing for second place while Sundowns buy up every standout performer before they can challenge the hierarchy. The league office celebrates individual excellence as though it occurs in a vacuum, ignoring the structural rot that makes that excellence predictable and, frankly, boring.
The evidence is on the pitch, not in a press release. Sundowns clinched the title with five matches to spare, their domestic unbeaten streak now spanning three calendar years. Rulani Mokwena’s squad rotates 23 internationals, while rivals like Orlando Pirates—despite Relebohile Mofokeng’s electric breakout—are forced to rebuild every summer because their best players are poached by the very club they hope to dethrone. Kaizer Chiefs, once the league’s flagship brand, finished seventh and failed to place a single outfield player among the top 20 goal contributions. Nasreddine Nabi’s squad is a patchwork of cast-offs and raw rookies, and yet the awards ceremony will pretend that a defender from a mid-table side like Stellenbosch’s Ismaël Toure deserves the same stage as a Sundowns star. The numbers don’t lie: the points gap between first and second has grown every season since 2020, and the average transfer fee paid by Sundowns is four times that of any other club. This isn’t competition; it’s a parade.
The implication for South African football is dire. When the Premier Soccer League hands out medals for goals scored and clean sheets kept, it validates a closed shop where investment equals victory and coaching innovation is irrelevant.