The winners of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) will get a colossal R10-million first prize. This was announced by league sponsor Absa at the Carlton Centre on Thursday.
Just more than R29-million will be shared by the 16 PSL clubs at the end of the season. This excludes the monthly grants of R1-million and the Cup competitions in which teams participate.
”I think it’s a huge amount, a very nice prize for a team in South Africa,” said PSL CEO Kjetil Siem. ”This prize money is just for the league, so if you take Cup games into account, and let’s say a club wins the league and a tournament, they can walk away with a huge amount of money.”
The prize monies will remain the same for the next five years, which is the duration of the sponsorship deal between the PSL and Absa.
”We hope the prize money will galvanise the clubs and therefore make the league more exciting,” said Happy Ntshingila, group executive of Absa marketing.
”We are committing ourselves to soccer because it has a huge pull in this country and, in fact, all over the world. At Absa we believe it is what we do today that determines the quality of our tomorrows. Together with the PSL, our partnership will ensure an even better quality of football.”
The prize money for the 2007/08 PSL season is as follows:
First: R10-million
Second: R5-million
Third: R3-million
Fourth: R2-million
Fifth: R1,5-million
Sixth: R1,3-million
Seventh: R1,1-million
Eighth: R1-million
Ninth: R750 000
10th: R700 000
11th: R650 000
12th: R600 000
13th: R550 000
14th: R500 000
15th: R450 000
16th: R400 000
— Sapa