The South African Premier Soccer League (PSL), officially known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, operates on a professional league system that includes a top-flight division and a second-tier league.
League Format and Points
The 2025–26 season follows a standard professional league structure:
- Teams: The top flight consists of 16 member clubs.
- Schedule: The season typically runs from August to May. For the 2025/26 campaign, there is a scheduled seven-week mid-season break from early December to late January to accommodate the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
- Matches: How the PSL Season Works: Format, Points, Promotion & Relegation
- Each team plays twice (home and away) in a double round-robin format, totaling 30 matches per club.
- Points System: Teams earn 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss.
- Tie-breakers: If teams finish level on points, the primary tie-breaker is goal difference.
Promotion and Relegation
The movement of teams between the Betway Premiership and the second-tier Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) is determined by final league positions:
- Automatic Relegation: The team that finishes in 16th place (bottom of the log) is automatically relegated to the MFC.
- Automatic Promotion: The winner (1st place) of the Motsepe Foundation Championship is automatically promoted to the Premiership for the following season.
- Promotion/Relegation Play-offs: A mini-league playoff series is held to determine the final spot in the Premiership. It involves:
- The team that finished 15th in the Premiership.
- The teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
- The winner of this three-team round-robin tournament secures a place in the top flight for the next season.
CAF Qualification
Top-performing teams qualify for continental competitions organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF):
CAF Champions League: The league champion and the runner-up qualify for this tournament.
CAF Confederation Cup: The 3rd-place team and the winners of the Nedbank Cup (a domestic knockout competition) qualify for this tournament. Nedbank Cup (a domestic knockout competition) qualify for this tournament.