sponsors, broadcasters and other affected stakeholders to ascertain their individual preferences.
During this consultation process, at times a revision of the previously arrived at fixture blocks take
place.
37.9
Thereafter the revised fixture blocks go back to plaintiff's management for approval and then to
plaintiff's executive committee for verification. Other revisions can take place during this process.
37.10
Individual fixtures within the blocks need then to be arrived at. During this phase the teams or clubs
themselves are consulted with a view of obtaining their inputs. Those inputs may include preferred
venues, preferred kickoff times and whether the fixture is a daytime or night one. These inputs or
preferences are assessed in the light of broadcasting times and requisites. A balancing act must be
done by those involved in the compilation to ensure fairness to all concerned. What is important is
that the compilers of the lists are not beholden to what those giving inputs want or wish for. Then
follows the fixture draw process.8 Part of this entails the application of the English Football
Association formula of identifying what is called "opposites". Where teams are scheduled or allocated
as "opposites" they should not or will not play "at home" together in the same block. This process of
identifying "opposites" is done manually. The allocation of "opposites" is required where, for
example, two teams share the same venue9 or for other reasons.10 The idea is to produce a
pairing of teams as "opposites" available for a random draw followed by a draw for the individual
matches. Thereafter the plaintiff will attempt to accommodate the teams' inputs or preferences in
terms of weekends and weekdays, time of day or night, etc. while also taking into account other
stakeholders' requirements, such as those of broadcasters, while all the time striving to ensure
fairness to all concerned.
37.11
It is at this stage, just prior to the random draw, that the "fixtures" programme or software is used:
Team names, block dates, special dates and other relevant considerations are fed into the computer.
After the software had captured the outcome of the above process (random draw) the teams' and
broadcasters' preferences or inputs are fed into the system. Then follows an extensive process of
manual checking for anomalies such as for example, matches being held too close to one another
such that one team is required to play another team too soon after another match thus affording it
insufficient rest time or doublebooking of venues or overuse of venues to mention a few as
examples. Any anomalies are resolved manually.
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37.12
The fixtures are then forwarded to the broadcaster(s) for perusal and further inputs. Such inputs
may entail the availability of its resources such as broadcasting trucks and satellite bookings; the
fact that the Absa Premiership game clashes with its already scheduled European Champions League
fixture or that the venue of a fixture is not conclusive for a night or rainyday game due to the
absence of adequate floodlights. All these requirements must be addressed by dealing with them
manually and effecting changes to the fixture lists in the computer software where necessary.
37.13
The teams then come up with their further inputs, followed by the broadcasters having a relook at
the fixtures if they have changed between then and their last peek at them.
37.14
By the exercise of "skill and judgment" the annual lists are then produced.
37.15
The weekly lists are then produced. Weekly lists are partly a confirmation of the fixtures appearing in
the annual lists. However, they also serve to incorporate any supervening changes that might need
to be effected at that stage, ie weekly. Such changes may be occasioned as a result of changes
requested by the clubs for reason, say, of a stadium no longer being available; or for logistic reasons
such as the team playing elsewhere in a different competition as was the case in the near past
where Orlando Pirates had to play an African Champions League game in the Democratic Republic of
Congo and Egypt. It may be the result of a request from the plaintiff itself, such as where a pitch at a
scheduled stadium is not in an acceptable state, say after the stadium was used in a political rally or
a music festival.
37.16
Any such changes are approved by the plaintiff's football departments and the weekly lists are
issued.
[38] Prof Schloss testified further that the process of fixture list compilation is a laborious one that takes many
hours and/or weeks. The plaintiff held extensive consultations with clubs, sponsors and broadcasters so as to
achieve the balance and fairnesstoall stated hereinbefore. The process is not easy as everybody wants
something that suits him or it. Each fixture in each block must be gone through in order to achieve this.
Furthermore, the process is not "mechanical at all". It needs a lot of thought, hard work, innovativeness and
discretion. At times there is a need to liaise with rugby authorities whenever the bigger rugby stadiums are
required.
[39] Both witnesses testified to the discretionary nature of the preparation of the fixture lists. Prof Schloss in
particular confirmed that it was totally impossible simply to carry over the previous season's fixture list into
the following soccer season. The reason can be for example, that the dates differ as a consequence of the
problems introduced by the Gregorian calendar, teams may not be the same as some of them could have
been relegated and others promoted from lower divisions during the previous season, there may be new
tournaments introduced or others discontinued. Mr Blanckensee agreed with Prof Schloss: He made mention
of FIFA dates
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