Mokoena: I’m trying to convince Motaung, Khoza

“Positive people tend to achieve positive results.” “We are planning to implement this in July.”

The year 2019 proved to be a challenging one for the South African Football Association, both on the field of play and off of it. While the national teams did well to qualify for their respective major competitions, few were able to leave their mark on the world stage as Banyana Banyana, the national U17 women’s and U20 male sides were all knocked out in the first round at the World Cup. For their part, Bafana Bafana surprised many by reaching the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations, while the national U23s – seen as the ‘Golden Generation’ – qualified for the 2020 Olympics to be played in Tokyo. Off the field, SAFA made a loss of R74 million. In stepped Gay Mokoena as acting CEO after Russel Paul vamoosed to take up a post with FIFA in preparation for the 2022 World Cup. It’s safe to say Mokoena is on a mission to turn things around at SAFA House. Soccer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane caught up with the acting CEO to discuss issues at hand.

Tshepang Mailwane: Mr Mokoena, thanks for your time. Let’s start with you describing how 2019 went for SAFA and its national teams.

Gay Mokoena:

Look, the year 2019, overall, was good for SAFA. There’s lots of ups and downs. At the beginning of the year, we had the inaugural Winnie Mandela Challenge and a few days later we had the centenary one for Mama (Albertina) Sisulu. That was a once-off and that was great for us. I think our teams did very well; I did an analysis and all of them did well. The U20 boys went to the World Cup in Poland and Banyana Banyana were also at the World Cup in France. The U23s also did well to qualify for the Olympics. If you look at the performance of our junior teams, we are doing very well. What’s going to be a challenge for my colleagues and I is (ensuring) when the players get to the U23 age group, we don’t lose them. In the past, we had U23 players and somewhere, somehow, they disappear; they don’t graduate to Bafana Bafana level. I’ve given myself that challenge to say I want to monitor these players from the junior national teams, to make sure they go filter into Bafana Bafana. Our national U23 team is our (Bafana) team for 2022.

TM: Let’s talk about the R74 million deficit that was reported not too long ago.

GM:

The downside is that we made a loss. The main reason is that SABC used to give us, in the past five or six years, R110 million – this translated to R10 million a month. SABC stopped, which means we are R10 million down. Russel (Paul, former acting CEO) did a good job because we reviewed a number of things. We took out security companies and since 2010 we had people there (at SAFA House) doing the garden and those doing a whole lot of other things. We had to take those people out. We’ve got the resort, Fun Valley. We’ve got staff there that does the cleaning for the chalets, so they now clean SAFA House. We managed to bring down our costs by R80 million. If it wasn’t for that, we would have been in a lot of trouble. We made a R74 million loss and we are budgeting for a R20 million surplus. We are glad that we renewed our relationship with SABC. They are supporting Bafana Bafana for another four years. SABC is so important to us. We need SABC and they also need us, so I’m glad we found a working relationship that’s much improved.

TM: What’s the plan to turn things around financially for the association?

GM:

Let’s come together and why don’t we, like all sports, do subscriptions for our members? It’s a card that you would buy for R100, whether you are a footballer, a referee, an administrator. If we work on a number of about 3.2 million – these are only footballers – that means we raise R320 million a year. Our normal budget is also about R320 million, but with the problems we’ve had, it dropped to about R220 million, which is a R100 million drop. With the subscription, in return the members will get a certain insurance product and will get certain discounts if they buy data or airtime. For a start, we are looking at three products that would entice people to pay the subscription. We are planning to implement this in July, so between January and June we will be doing the planning and looking at products, but we will also be registering the members.

TM: There were reports that Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki was working without a contract. What’s the latest on that?

GM:

A contract is when we reach consensus, when you and I agree that you are going to come work for SAFA and help me with this or that team. Then a contract is established. What is outstanding (after that) is the terms, the details and the delivery and nature of the service. Now, I accept that the perfect way to do this is to negotiate all these details and finalise them before you appoint the person. That’s how it should happen, I agree. But in the practical world, where Bafana needs to be playing a game in two or three weeks’ time, it’s not practical sometimes to finish all those details before the match, which is what happened here. Sometimes those details take quite a while. I’m not defending the point that the details were not finalised, but Russel Paul did a lot of the spadework. He obviously had not signed by the time I arrived, but I told the coach, “You have two crucial games against Ghana and Sudan.” Sometimes the contract talks could distract us. After that, we had one meeting and it was done with the coach. It’s done now and we are happy.

TM: Is it a contract that takes him to the next FIFA World Cup in Qatar? GM:

Yes, it’s a contract that takes him to after the World Cup.

TM: What do you make of the start he has made as Bafana coach?

GM:

It’s two (wins) out of three, so it’s okay. I’m betting on the fact that Bafana Bafana has been more successful when we have a local coach. Shakes (Mashaba) did well and we won the Afcon when Clive Barker was coach. So, I’m counting on that. I think Molefi has got good support from Trott (Moloto) and Arthur Zwane. Let’s see how it goes. I said if he needs anything, we will have a look and support him. I’m glad he is also a positive guy. Positive people tend to achieve positive results. I’m very optimistic about the national team.

TM: Have you finalised the appointment of coaches for the junior national teams?

GM:

No, that’s another priority that I have. On the boys’ side, we have a vacancy for the U17s, because coach Molefi is now in the senior national team. We are looking at replacing him there. We have Helman (Mkhalele) standing in as U20 coach. He did fairly well with the team in the COSAFA Cup final. We will have some candidates and we will interview them, and Helman, I’m sure, will be part of them. He stands a chance, but I wouldn’t say he is the guy who is going to get the job. So, let’s see how that process goes because we have to give everybody who is interested to coach the U20 team a fair chance. And then David Notoane is with the uU23s and he has to finish the Olympics and then we can have a relook as to how we go forward. To be honest with you, in the financial position we find ourselves in, we are somehow forced to have part-time coaches for now.

TM: You launched the Women’s League last year, teething problems and all.

GM:

One of the highlights for us in 2019 was the launch of the Women’s League. I think we did well by launching the league, because if we waited to try get all the sponsorship, then it just never happens. You’d be surprised right now by the interest that is there in the market for the league. The corporate sector, and government by the way, see this as a vehicle that can be used to communicate with women out there. One thing that we don’t blow our horn on so much, which we should, is that our women footballers are highly qualified academically. They’ve done that because we put them at the University of Pretoria, where they can study and play. We are excited about the league and, on January 30, we have a brainstorming session with prospective sponsors. The sponsors say, “We want to get involved”, but they don’t just want to be involved ordinarily. They want it to be a ‘wow’ league. It’s about making it attractive, particularly to women. They want us to look at some creative ideas. We value the league, so that sponsors know that they are getting value for their money, but we should also not be short-changed.

TM: How challenging has it been up to this point without a sponsor?

GM:

We’ve got some funds, but it’s not all in the bag. We’ve got money from the Legacy Trust and we got money from government. It’s running based on those funds. We’ve applied for funding from the national lottery and it’s looking positive. So that could take us through to the end of the season and then, by the time we start a new season, we will have sponsors. In fact, some of the sponsors are in a hurry to get involved. If they sign soon, then we will have a sponsor before the new season. They’ve expressed an interest that they want to get involved, but they want to get involved provided we do this and that, and we will want them to get involved provided they give us x amount of money. Those are the kind of things we need to negotiate. We’ve got SASOL, which has been an anchor for us to develop women’s football. SASOL has done a great job, not only for SAFA, but for South Africa. I think one of the new sponsors for the Women’s League would like to develop the same legacy that SASOL has developed, which is a plus for me.

TM: What was the reason for withdrawing the bid for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup?

GM:

One of the unfortunate things is that we had to withdraw the World Cup bid for 2023, because there are a couple of factors. It’s not government, as people want to think. No, no, we had excellent support from government. It’s more about football issues. There are strong joint bids from New Zealand and Australia and there is a joint bid from countries in South America and we are here alone. We look at this and also say there is a netball tournament the same year, so maybe let’s step back and let’s rather focus on building the Women’s League and we make it stronger, so that when the World Cup comes here, we have a team that can compete. Let’s not be too ambitious, so the focus will be on the league. We’ve now promoted two teams and there will be 14 teams. I don’t know if the sponsors would say, “Why not push it to 16 teams?” If they say that, we can look at two teams from the university league to join. You know, I’m trying my best to convince Mr (Kaizer) Motaung and Dr (Irvin) Khoza to put up women’s teams (at their respective clubs). Definitely we will look at bidding for 2027.

TM: That means you’d like to see more PSL clubs, other than Mamelodi Sundowns and Bloemfontein Celtic, having women’s teams.

GM:

Yes, definitely. I was there at the PSL AGM and I encouraged them to look into women’s football. Women’s football is here, and it can only grow and I’m sure they don’t want to remain behind. Jessica (Motaung, Kaizer Chiefs’ marketing director) was at a CAF workshop, so I hope that those are signs that they might be considering it.

TM: How do you improve how things are done administratively in the Women’s League, as there was a situation where referees arrived late for a match in Limpopo?

GM:

We are beefing up capacity a bit for the league. We will be appointing a permanent women’s football coordinator, perhaps in the first quarter. By March or April, we should have appointed that person. We have beefed up the capacity in the competition’s department and the referees’ department, because what happened there is that there was just miscommunication between those two departments. One waited for the other and a big mistake happened. We’ve made sure that doesn’t happen again. But, in any case, this league is going to grow and if we get the sponsorship, we will get the capacity. At the moment, it’s a little bit difficult because we are managing the costs. Remember we want this league to grow to a professional status. We can’t afford that mistake again. If that happens again, then heads will roll. We can’t afford to have people who will be complacent about their work.

TM: The legendary Fran-Hilton Smith has retired. What do you make of her contribution to women’s football in the country?

GM:

She made a great contribution. I mean, I was operating at lower levels and she was quite active. I think we need many people like her because she has contributed immensely to women’s football and we thank her for that. We had a farewell function and she cried. She has been with SAFA for 20-something years, but I said to her football is very broad and she should not sit at home. There will always be room for her here and there to make a contribution. But for now we are allowing for young blood to come. That’s the position I was telling you about, the women’s football coordinator to try and close that gap.

TM: Does the association see Desiree Ellis as someone who will take Banyana to the next Women’s World Cup?

GM:

I mean, if she’s doing well…

there’s the Afcon coming up and we would want her to do well in that competition. We want to qualify for the World Cup. I’m happy with her performance, she’s doing well. If she keeps doing well, she should be our coach. But obviously if she doesn’t, then we have to review the situation. But I know she will do well.

TM: What are the plans to get the national U23s ready for the Olympics?

GM:

We want to prepare the team to do well. We have a game coming up for the U23s in March in Japan and a few others, so that the team is prepared.

He says so because (some of) those guys have got caps in three international tournaments. They were at the U17 World Cup and then they went to the U20 World Cup. Now they are going to the Olympics. So, when they get to Bafana Bafana level, they have experience. That should give us a fairly good chance of performing better.

TM: What are your thoughts on the FIFA World Cup qualifying group Bafana Bafana has been drawn into, along with Ghana, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia?

GM:

Ha, ha, ha, that’s a question you should be asking the coach. Look, it’s a tough group, but we are happy with it. I think we perform better when we have strong teams (in the same group), so I am positive.

TM: Thank you for your time, Mr Mokoena.

GM:

Thank you, Tshepang. ❐