Return flights for two from Joburg to Durban – R5 000. Luxury hotel stay – R10000. VIP tickets to a high-end marquee – R2500. The look on your face when you see your bank balance on Monday morning – priceless.
They say that during Durban July week, money can buy you most things. If you’re short of VIP tickets, it will cost you, but deep enough pockets will get you into the right chill zone. The same applies for hotels, and the long list of after-parties. No one wants to be outside, looking enviously on as others have a ball.
But, not many would have predicted that the biggest news in July week would not come out of Greyville, but would concern the patrons at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, namely AmaZulu FC. The numbers and the actual details are still fuzzy, but the supposed R82 million quoted as the going rate to get a PSL franchise is quite something.
As soon as these rumours started circulating, eyebrows were raised. But how? Just like that? With what money? Are there no rules to stop this? Money really can buy you anything, it seems. But, and this is a serious concern, what doors do deals like this open?
And, more importantly for AmaZulu as a club, what is the thinking behind this decision? Yes, the people of Durban would have been starved of football for a season, at the least. But, save for games involving Kaizer Chiefs, the people of Durban have barely raised a whisper at Moses Mabhida Stadium during the regular season.
Surely, if such lavish amounts of moolah were available, they would have been better utilised acquiring the players that would have made a better fist of preventing relegation? Or, now that the axe has fallen, that money could have been used in keeping the current squad together, as they were making strides under Steve Barker, and bounce straight back.
There is value in a team taking a collective step back, and then taking a giant stride forward together, with everyone pulling in the same direction, united by a single goal to change fortunes. If AmaZulu wanted examples, they could have looked at losing Champions League finalists, Juventus, who have come back from the humiliation of going to Serie B for corruption, but return to win multiple Serie A titles, domestic cups and restored pride in Europe.
Actually, AmaZulu don’t even need to look that far. Just down the road, Lamontville Golden Arrows have just bounced back into the top-flight, and the club as a whole are better for it. Of course, they parted ways with the man who steered them there, but that is not the point.
Arrows went down but gathered themselves and came back up at the first time of asking. In the process, they have unearthed some exciting youngsters, and played to crowds that were bigger and more passionate than those seen at PSL games. They restored pride in their jersey, and did it the hard way; the noble way.
There is no nobility in getting a bailout, buying out an eager seller and then carrying on as if it’s business as usual. Of course, one burning question will remain; what happens if AmaZulu, heaven forbid, find themselves relegated again at the end of the 2015-16 season?
Do they then dig deeper into these eternal pockets that they have revealed, and scour the country for another desperate seller? Or do they then look to sort themselves out as a club, going right down to their development programme, and making sure they never find themselves in that position again? One wonders, too, how the people of Durban, will welcome this transaction, knowing that AmaZulu ought to be plying their trade in the first division?
Acquiring a new franchise – R82m. Monthly PSL grant for clubs – R2m. A club’s integrity – priceless ...