A different question altogether

So khela abo ut the po ssibilities o f him taking o ver, sho uld the chairm anship po sitio n beco m e vacant in the near future. So khela also talks abo ut thePSLCEOsituation and share his tho ug hts o n co m ing back to footballoneday.

GENTLEMEN “THESE LED THE THAT HAVE ARE OLD, AND ORGANISATION OLD PEOPLE UNFORTUNATELY CERTAIN WAY. THINK IN A LOYALTY TO LIKE THEY SEEM TO...” AND THEY SEEM

Agooddancerknowswhento leave the stage, so go es the o ld saying, and that m ust be what m o st peo ple in the fraternity tho ug ht after hearing the news o f Dr Irvin Kho za po ssibly vacating the PSL chairm anship po sitio n. It has been repo rted in lo calm edia that the manwho occupies arg uably the ho ttest seat in do m estic club fo o tballis unlikely to stand fo r re-electio n co m e No vem ber. Kho za, who is also the chairmanofOrlandoPirates,hasbeenin charg e o f the Leag ue since 2003 and has doneasplendidjobinmakingthePSL oneofthemostprofitableleagues intheworld.Healso commands a lo t o f respect in fo o tball, business and life in g eneral. Having turned 76 in January, it is believed that the “Iro n Duke” is ready to pass the bato n to ano ther perso n altho ug h he hasn’t o fficially co nfirm ed that. In this interview, So ccer Ladum a’s Masebe Qina speaks to fo rm er Am aZulu FC g eneral m anager Lunga

Masebe Qina: Mr Sokhela, welcome back to the pages of Soccer Laduma. The big news in the fraternity in recent weeks has been that of the PSL chairmanship. What are your thoughts on Dr Irvin Khoza possibly stepping down as the chairman of the PSL?

Lunga Sokhela:

Look, I think one has to first appreciate what he has done for the League over a long period of time whilst he has been at the helm. And maybe not just the League only but for South African football in general. We all know that he played a critical role in us securing the rights to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which was a monumental milestone in the South African football journey. So, we have to respect that, and we have to look ahead. Also, what he has done for his club Orlando Pirates, which is a club that has a lot of history. It’s probably the second-oldest club in the league after AmaZulu Football Club. It’s a club that is rich in history and he has done a phenomenal job in ensuring its financial stability, its growth as a brand and its growth as an institution as a whole. So, you can never take away his contribution at club level, PSL level, and at SAFA level as well. I think that must be the first port of call, to respect that.

MQ: Well said. LS:

Going forward, I think what people need to realise is that change is something that is inevitable. We’re all going to grow old and at some point, we are going to need to hang up our boots and give reigns to the next generation. I think where maybe we can fault the PSL a bit is there’s never been a succession plan. I’m talking about a solid succession plan to say, “Listen, at some stage we are going to lose this man.” He’s not going to be there forever. Unfortunately, no human being is given that right. We should have asked ourselves, “What are we going to do post his time?” Now, that discussion needs to happen quickly. The last thing that I would advise the PSL about is to be in a state of panic. The PSL now needs to look at its structure and see if that structure is sustainable. You now have a Dr Khoza who is saying he is leaving, and are you going to limit your replacement potential of the man to the 32-member clubs of the NSL? Or do you want to say, “Ladies and gentlemen, this organisation is massive, and we need to open this up and allow ourselves the best possible South African to take over the role of the chairman of the League.”? The PSL needs to look at the statute and they need to look at the structure of the Executive Committee and they need to change it. They need to make sure that they get the best possible individual to take over that seat. That’s the reality and they don’t have to limit it to the 32 clubs. I think it’s now an opportune time to really look at the structure of the League and make it fit for purpose when it comes to staying relevant as an organisation and growing into the future as the League.

MQ: Do we have leaders like Dr Khoza in Mzansi who would step in and do the job should he confirm that he won’t be standing for another term at the end of the year?

LS:

Definitely, South Africa does have the leaders. But if you are going to ask me, does South African professional football have the leaders, then that would be a different question altogether. That’s why I said, you’ve got to open the pool to the whole of South Africa. You’ve got to find an individual in South Africa who’s got very strong relations in the corporate world. You are dealing with big companies here and they are investing large amounts of money. So, you need to find an individual who can walk into these blue-chip company boardrooms and be able to sell the PSL. I’ve never believed that a candidate for that position should be somebody who’s been in football. For that position, you need somebody who appreciates governance. That job is not really about football, it’s about governance. It’s about leadership and about a visionary. It’s about somebody who’s going to be able to get a lot of stakeholders together and drive them in the right direction. I certainly think that South Africa inside and outside of football does have those individuals that can take the League to the next level.

MQ: Are you saying that the next PSL chairman should be a South African?

LS:

I’m not necessarily saying that. I truly believe that if we’ve got a skill set here, then we need to be patriotic and source from here. But within the PSL as a body, I think certainly … currently the PSL doesn’t have a CEO. The PSL doesn’t have a properly structured marketing department. Gone are the days when you had Trevor Phillips, and you knew that Ronnie Schloss was in charge of operations, and you knew that this person was in charge of marketing, and you knew that this person was the general manager of football. Those different departments were active. We had the likes of “Squire” (Peter Mancer) at the time, and he was very strong and was marketing and all of that. In the recent past, that all disappeared. It’s a very flat structure and there’s two or three individuals we talk to, and we don’t know who does what. The PSL needs to have a proper commercial and marketing wing.

MQ: We are listening. LS:

We need to ask ourselves, “Within South Africa, have we possibly reached our ceiling in terms of what we can do in the conventional ways?” I mean, we’ve got the broadcast deal with SuperSport. We’re playing in decent stadiums and everything like that and do we not possibly have to say, “You know what, the NBA (National Basketball Association) is doing magnificent stuff in terms of the digital and the marketing world. They are very innovative. Should we not maybe bring somebody from the NBA into this new marketing wing.” I’m talking about somebody who can come with brand-new ideas and the things that you and I have never thought of. What is the NBA doing, and what is UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) doing? That’s what we are competing with

at the end of the day. In terms of the chairmanship of the League, it’s somebody who should be guiding that type of thinking. The old men like Khoza, (Kaizer) Motaung and others have taken it to a certain level, and we need to ask ourselves questions about taking it to a level beyond. We need to be a global sporting body and see how we grow. I mean, you have the likes of the MLS who are doing groundbreaking things. To answer your question, I would say from a figurehead point of view, it would be good to have a

South African because the PSL is very much a South African brand. But we would need to bring in expertise (from elsewhere around world) in key positions within the organisation to take us to the next level. We are now competing on a global space when it comes to entertainment and content.

MQ: Why do you think the PSL hasn’t had a permanent CEO for almost a decade?

LS:

I don’t know. These gentlemen that have led the organisation are old, and unfortunately old people think in a certain way. They seem to like loyalty and they seem to believe in having certain lieutenants next to them because it’s people they trust. We can never forget that and it’s an old style of leadership where you want people in key positions where you know you need trust and so on. The reality is that it’s been a shame that the PSL, for such a key position, it’s left it where it has left it now. The board of directors are there to ensure oversight, governance and all of those things. Your job is not to be there every single day and you need to get a CCO (Chief Commercial Officer) that’s going to run the PSL. As the PSL you are there for guidance and offer strategic support and so on. It’s pointless calling somebody a CEO and yet they are just a glorified operations manager. You look at the likes of Brand de Villiers, and you call a man like that and make him a glorified operations manager and he jumps, and the next thing he is in charge of MultiChoice Africa. It’s been a shame.

MQ: Would you be interested in PSL chairmanship position?

LS:

(Laughs) You know what Masebe, to be honest with you, if you were to ask me in terms of my involvement in South African football and where I think I could add value, if people felt that Lunga has got the right skill set, I would be honoured and I would put my hand up and say I will go for it. I think that’s how it should be. I still have love for the industry, and I don’t want the industry to collapse. When you are hearing things that clubs are collapsing financially and whatever, those are things that started showing warning signs about 10 years ago. The signs have been there that there is danger coming but we kept on putting plaster on the wound and not healing it. The signs have been there that there’s going to come a year where three or five clubs put up their hands and file for bankruptcy. What happens if all the equity that has been built over the past 30 years or so collapses? I would hate for that day to happen because I invested a large part of my life to South African football. If ever there was a time I would be called to contribute to keep it alive for the benefit of South Africa, I would certainly put my hand up.

MQ: We are certainly looking forward to having you back in the industry one day. Thanks for your time.

LS: Thank you very much, boss.