Khoza must have contingency plans
It looks likely that it will never be business as usual in football with Absa announcing this week that they will not be extending their partnership with the Premier Soccer League.
This means an end to the Absa Premiership as we had come to know it. And with the economic situation unstable in the country at the moment, it is a big worry. Finding a new sponsor will be a huge challenge under the current circumstances.
Before signing off, Absa pushed the bar a little higher when they increased the winner’s cheque from R10-million to R15-million. Now the new sponsor will have to match that or even go higher.
But with the situation as it is at present, it is going to be a little difficult. But Irvin Khoza has been in this situation before and while under his leadership, one is inclined to believe that this crisis will not have a negative impact on football. The fact that he recently managed to find GladAfrica to sponsor the National First Division says he has not lost his touch in terms of luring sponsors his way.
I have a reason to believe that the PSL leadership have known about Absa’s intentions to cut ties for quite a while now, so they surely have some contingency plan in place to prevent this having a big impact on the league.
Unless the relationship had soured so badly, Absa would have notified the PSL of their intentions at least a year earlier. I believe the negotiations for a renewal started long ago and it was not a surprise decision suddenly taken by Absa.
But my concern now is how we @SbongsKaDonga finish the current season. If my understanding is right, the agreement between the PSL and Absa ends at the end of June which is when the season officially ends. I am not privy to the details as yet, but if that is true and stands, Absa will make their last financial contribution at the end of this month.
But the way things stand, if this season – which was rudely disrupted by the outbreak of Covid-19 – is to be played to the end, then it may have to be without a sponsor.
That means the PSL will have to dig deep into their reserves to fund the resumption.
The R2.5-million monthly grant that teams get will have to come out of the PSL’s own pockets. They announced a large R1-billion windfall for their past financial year and that should enable them to cushion any blow they might take.
What I like is that when this is all over – which I hope will be soon enough – there will be renewed excitement when the new season starts as it will have new sponsors (hopefully) and a new name for our top flight football.
The rush to be the first team to have their name written on the new trophy will be interesting and exciting to watch. One just hopes that we will be over Covid-19 by then and will be allowed to physically participate in all the fun.