Whichever way you slice the cheese, you have to admit that the optics look as blurry as a pre-2008 broadcast of one of their league matches.

Remember those days?

Before the advent of HD, 4K, 8K and QLED (whatever that means), when you could count the pixels on your telly, and boast about 720p or 1080p resolution.

You could barely make out the players back then, their only identifiers the numbers on their backs and the knowledge of body language, gait and position stored in the head.

Those seemed to be simpler times when sport was driven by the game and not the mad dash for eyeballs on TV, the brinkmanship of who has the larger mob of social media followers, and the desperate need to chase down every financial opportunity just to keep your professional outfit afloat.

For sure, money has always played a part in sport in some fashion, and perhaps it’s the rose-tinted spectrum of nostalgia that obscures the pessimistic truth, but surely it was not always like this.

Surely teams – their players, coaches, managers and owners – did it for the love of the game and not the bottom-line, and certainly not for greed.

As an outsider within, it seems to me that the PSL have fallen into that trap, not that I don’t think rugby and cricket haven’t sold their souls either.

But, for whatever reason, it appears to be more noticeable with the biggest sporting code in South Africa.

This week’s disastrous revelation regarding Royal AM just punctuates my belief.

There is no doubt in my mind that the league is in disrepute, thanks to the action of that club, the inaction of the administrators, and the seemingly lackadaisical and arbitrary manner in which their structure safeguards the elite status of their clubs.

The PSL need to be far more circumspect when it comes to dolling out their most precious commodity – who gets to play in the Premiership.

It should be a right of passage, a vigorous test on the field which earns that call to glory.

If not that, then a robust and stringent boardroom audit to ensure that only the most competent individuals or entities are allowed into the inner cloister at the main table.

Royal AM and their ownership should, arguably, never have been entertained or trusted to uphold the values and mission of the PSL.

The owner – Shauwn Mkhize – is a convicted fraudster, the running battles with SARS stretching as far back as 2003, while phrases linked to assassination attempts and tender corruption loom far too near.

Friday could prove a watershed moment for the PSL when their executive committee decides the fate of the KZN club, their decision a clear indication of their ethics and morals regarding integrity and player welfare.

The PSL are not the only worrisome entity within our football.

Safa have their own fair share of troubles.

The national administrative body, it is safe to say, has irked Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie to the point of speaking out about their failures publicly.

Their president, Danny Jordaan, has been charged with fraud and theft, and is reportedly facing a rebellion from within his own Safa ranks, which will play out on Friday in what could be an embarrassing blood-letting.

A few months ago, Safa could not afford to send Bafana Bafana to Uganda, forcing them to go cap in hand to other stakeholders to fit the bill.

They do not have the money to implement VAR in keeping with the times, while they have squandered the legacy of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

There are sponsors, who will remain nameless here, that baulk at the idea of supporting football in this country, even though they understand that their brand will receive much more recognition if they align themselves with the sport, because of the omnishambles.

Who can blame them when the sport stumbles from one scandal to another, and treats its own brand with such discontent?

And that is what it ultimately boils down to, isn’t it?

Money.

If I had it, then I surely would not be knocking on the door of SA football to spend it at this moment.

* Morgan Bolton is the Sports Editor of Independent Media.