Durban - If Gary Teichmann had any illusions as to the challenges ahead of him as the new CEO of the Sharks, they would have been blasted away in minutes of his “coronation” ceremony at Kings Park on Wednesday when it emerged that Sharks hooker Mondi Hadebe has been suspended for four years for testing positive for a banned substance.
Hadebe has been absent for some time from the Sharks’ playing set-up and the reason for this was yesterday divulged by Khalid Galant, chief executive officer for the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport, who revealed that the 25-year-old had tested positive for two forbidden forms of steroid.
Two more South African players, yet to be named, also failed doping tests that have been conducted this year across all age groups of South African rugby.The 25-year-old Hadebe has protested that some years ago he took medication to help him recover from a spinal injury and that resulted in the positive test.Teichmann, meanwhile, confirmed that he had signed up as successor to John Smit for a period of three years and would then “take it from there”.
The 49-year-old former Sharks and Springbok captain said that he would take office on August 2 and would take advice from outgoing CEO Smit, who finishes up at the end of October.
Teichmann said that he will opt for a quiet take-over period from Smit and would “get to know the business” before he made important decisions. He intimated that he would talk softly until he was clear about what he was dealing with before wielding the big stick.Chairman of the Board Stephen Saad said at Wednesday’s press conference at the Shark Tank that he had been struck by Teichmann’s response when asked to discuss his remuneration package.
“Gary told me that me he was not rejoining the Sharks to make money and was taking the position because he had a great passion for the Sharks,” Saad said.
Teichmann is a director of a Teichmann Plants and Civils, a construction company that Saad pointed out had grown from an initial turnover of R30 000 about 15 years ago to $150-million today.
Teichmann said that his partners would look after the business in his absence and it will not be a case of treating the Sharks job as a part-time affair.In praising the out-going Smit, Saad said that the media had got it wrong in saying that the Sharks have had dwindling revenue in recent years.
“John has managed a very difficult period at the Sharks and our revenue has never been higher, and we have had an increase in sponsorship (title sponsors Cell C a month ago renewed their sponsorship of the Sharks for another three years)”, said Saad, the head of pharmaceutical giants Aspen.
“John also patched up a fractious relationship with the City and we are now in a better position to conduct talks with the City going forward (notably about a possible move from King Park to Moses Mhabida Stadium),” Saad said.
“Gary picks up a business that is clean and has been run with integrity.”
The Mercury