Members of the PSL board of governors (BoG) are like sheep. They follow each other around with no thought of danger or awareness of their surroundings. If the sheep at the front of the flock wanders off a cliff, it’s likely the rest of the flock will follow right behind.
This makes the shepherd’s role as a leader critical for their survival. Without a shepherd, sheep are easy prey for salivating wolves and other predators. Sadly, the PSL leadership are losing their grip on the shepherd’s crook.
We witnessed that in the last two weeks when the BoG initially refused to reschedule its fixture programme to allow the DStv Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns an opportunity to participate in the new African Football League (AFL), which is due to kick off this coming weekend.
It is also alleged that during that BoG seating, it sent Sundowns delegate Yogesh Singh packing from the gathering, since the meeting was about the defending champions.
It was agreed unanimously the board would not rubber-stamp Sundowns taking part and rescheduling their fixtures. It is alleged the board felt disrespected and bullied by some faceless people and letters from Caf. You see, the PSL is run by chairman Irvin Khoza and the fearsome Mato Madlala. They do not call Khoza the “Iron Duke” for nothing, and Madlala is a mbokodo in her own right, and they were not going to be ordered around by some unknown people from Caf and told how to run their “house”.
The PSL is sometimes a law onto itself in South African football circles. It gets away with murder at the drop of a hat, and now and then, it treats the South African Football Association (Safa) with disdain. It conducts its operation free from the
jurisdiction of Safa, the country’s football mother body.
According to whispers in the corridors, the bone of contention was that Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, the two flag-bearers of SA football were excluded from the competition and that the high-rising Sundowns, who are owned and bank-rolled by SA mining magnate and billionaire Patrice Motsepe, were chosen to compete for the sugar-coated $4-million (R75-million) winners’ cheque.
It is rumoured that the thought of Sundowns, who are already swimming in a pool of riches, adding another R75-million into their coffers did not sit well with the league bosses, hence the resolution to prohibit them from joining the seven other
African powerhouses in the tournament.
But, did it not occur to the board that Motsepe had bailed out the PSL, and is funding the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC), the second tier of SA football, after they were dumped in the last minute by cash-strapped GladAfrica group?
The 16 teams in the MFC are able to compete and are getting monthly grants, courtesy of the Motsepe family but the same boneheads wanted to turn against Sundowns and to boycott their participation in AFL – talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
But after a bollocking from Motsepe, who is also Caf president, the PSL was left with its tail between its legs as it called an urgent BoG meeting on Friday and made a U-turn. At least a situation where the sheep, as they were following each other on the edge of the cliff was averted and SA football saved from an embarrassing situation and punitive action by Caf
