Premier Soccer League (PSL) board members deserve to be rewarded with millions of rands for their role in securing the controversial Absa soccer sponsorship deal, MPs heard on Tuesday.
”They have done the best for football … and have acted in the best interest of the PSL,” league chairperson Irvin Khoza said, adding that the league has been struggling to get sponsorship for years. ”It’s not easy to get money,” he added.
Khoza, who was briefing the National Assembly’s sports committee, said the decision to pay board members involved in the Absa sponsorship negotiations a commission was agreed to by soccer club owners long before the deal was finalised.
”At the biennial general meeting of the National Soccer League on November 11 2006 we debated the issue of sponsorship negotiations and decided the principle on commission clearly and without doubt,” he said.
Khoza said it is unfair that certain club owners who endorsed the decision for commission to be paid to board members are suddenly criticising the move. ”I think that when the club owners agreed to the commission [idea], they did not believe we could get so much money.”
He described as ”unfortunate” Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s decision to denounce the deal publicly before seeking all the relevant facts from the PSL.
Khoza, PSL finance committee head Kaizer Motaung, executive member Mato Madlala, former CEO Trevor Phillips and consultant Mark Mancer were each due to receive R50-million for their role in securing the R500-million deal.
However, owing to pressure from critics of the arrangement, the PSL later agreed to set up a commission, headed by Jomo Cosmos club owner Jomo Sono, to look at the commission debacle and come up with recommendations.
The commission is due to meet the PSL board on Saturday. — Sapa