The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has set aside R70-million with which to pay members as a ”token of gratitude” for their part in securing rights and sponsorship deals, it was announced on Tuesday.
The amount would be ”apportioned to the members of the negotiating team and other role players” and would be a one-off payment, PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza told the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
Khoza was speaking after the PSL’s annual general meeting ”rubber-stamped” the compromise decision, according to the national broadcaster.
At the start of October, Khoza said the PSL had not even formally decided whether to pay negotiators any commission at all.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has slammed the payment of commission to soccer officials as ”morally reprehensible and corrupt”.
Manuel was referring specifically to the PSL’s R1,6-billion television rights deal and a R500-million Absa sponsorship deal.
Absa’s major shareholders are Barclays Bank, Allan Gray, and the Public Investment Corporation.
”My understanding is that individuals are elected onto the league’s various committees to serve the interests of the sport, not in the expectation of acquiring personal fortunes to the detriment of the organisation they are representing,” Manuel wrote in an open letter to Absa chief executive officer Steve Booysen.
At the time, Khoza said the PSL’s board of governors had, at a meeting in November 2006, agreed in principle with the concept of paying internal negotiators commission — as opposed to paying an outside firm — but that the modality had still to be worked out.
He emphasised that no matter what the final decision, ”no executive committee member will be entitled to commission”.
The SABC reported that the board met to discuss the issue for the first time on Tuesday.
It agreed that rather than commission, the three members of the negotiating committee and other role players would each receive a ”token of gratitude”.
The amount would be derived from all sponsorships secured by the PSL.
The decision on who would benefit and by how much would be decided by a three man team consisting of Jomo Sono, Jabu Khumalo and Jose Ferreira. – Sapa