It’s all about the big bucks

Sy Lerman

Congratulations AmaZulu – despite finishing only fifth in the NFD, you’re back in the Premier League via a substantial cheque book and the PSL’s questionable attitude to buying promotion.

This is how one cynic yesterday commented after the PSL had finally confirmed the lingering reports that AmaZulu had bought promoted Thanda Royal Zulu’s hard-earned Premier League franchise for a sum reputed be in the vicinity of R50 million.

That the PSL does not possess the means to halt the sale of a club goes without question, but at the same time it does control the conditions whereby a sale can be confirmed or vetoed.

These include name changes and home-ground and other venue changes. But, on the evidence of the AmaZulu-Thanda Royal Zulu deal, the new owners will be sticking to their time-worn traditional name and continue to play at their regular Durban headquarters.

And the suggestion has been intensified against the PSL administration that it is more concerned with financial matters than abiding by traditional sporting ethics such as enacting promotion on the field of play – and not through a bank account.

What about the Richards Bay area where Thanda Royal were so admirably supported in every respect to qualify to play in the PSL?

They are out in the cold and still without Premier League status they worked so hard to achieve.