Gambler Comitis hopes he’s on to a winner

Sy Lerman

His background is befitting a gambler – and Cape Town City boss John Comitis has never hesitated to take a flutter.

Most times he has defeated the odds with his often instinctive permutations and emerged with a considerable degree of success.

However, his latest gamble, that of appointing former striker Benni McCarthy (right) as coach of his Cape Town-based PSL club without any practical previous experience, may well be categorised as one with as much uncertainty as any of his previous sorties.

In Comitis’ favour is the fact his two previous gambles relating to the acquisition of City via the purchase of the Black Aces franchise for a fee reputed to be in the region of R50 to 60 million, and signing up Eric Tinkler as coach, with the renamed club enjoying a storybook launch in its first season by annexing the Telkom Cup and finishing a respectable third in the table, both exceeded all expectations.

That is how Comitis is portrayed and generally operates. Of Greek ancestry, most will be surprised to learn the 56-year-old City chairman was born in Kinshasa in the DRC where his grandparents had emigrated.

Comitis was educated at St John’s College in Johannesburg and earned a science degree at Wits University, representing them as a first-league footballer, moving to Cape Town and obtaining and then selling what has become the thriving Steers franchise.

His background as a footballer led him into administration in Cape Town and he was associated at the helm of Seven Stars, Hellenic and Ajax Cape Town in turn before bowing out of football for several years after a club dispute.

Nonetheless Comitis never stopped hankering for the chance to return to the game and he saw his chance when Black Aces were open for a deal, but it still required twisting the arm of the PSL to sanction the sale after having previously vetoed a similar attempt by AmaZulu.