Johannesburg - The JSE yesterday bestowed accolades upon local soccer powerhouses Kaizer Motaung, Jomo Sono and Irvin Khoza in a ceremony tied in with the stock exchange’s market opening.
The three soccer club owners were honoured for their valuable contribution to the development and advancement of the soccer industry, which has a massive following and is a high grossing sport.
“We saw it fitting to call on the legendary fathers of soccer because of the contribution they have made in terms of development of soccer in South Africa,” JSE head of marketing Mpho Ledwaba said.
Contribution
Motaung, the chairman of Kaizer Chiefs, said being honoured at the JSE was special for him as it brought back old memories of his first full-time job at the stock exchange after he left school.
“It was a great honour for the three of us to be recognised and be honoured by the stock exchange for the contribution that we have made in football. Football has got the business element, which relates to the stock exchange,” he said.
“The business element of football has never been spoken about before. I think this actually paves the way for us to be able to look at the business side of things because football plays a very critical role in terms of the socio-economic needs of our communities.”
Motaung said the soccer industry had created a lot of job opportunities by virtue of sporting events, adding that soccer had done well with regards to contributing to the country’s economy.
Sono, the chairman of Jomo Cosmos, said the trio had come a long way.
“Not even in our wildest dreams did we ever realise, at the time when we started, that football was going to evolve to be as it is today in terms of business,” Motaung said.
On whether his soccer club had any intentions to list on the JSE, Motaung said it might be something they would look into when the chance presented itself in future, but now the time was not right, according to advice received from the economic sector.
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