JOHANNESBURG - Premier Soccer League chairman Irvin Khoza says one of the mandates of the newly elected executive committee is to educate and debrief the next generation about the type of business they are in.
After an 18-year reign as the leader of the PSL, Khoza was re-elected unopposed to yet again serve in his current role for the next four years. During his leadership, the 72-year-old football administrator has turned the PSL into a product worth over R1 billion.
After the establishment of the PSL 24 years ago, the current calendar year will go down as the most challenging for its leadership, having been forced into a corner to either cancel or complete the domestic season following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
But led by the astute leadership of Khoza and his fellow exco members, the PSL pulled off one of the most successful resumptions and completions of last season under ‘bio bubble’ restrictions.
However, after mixed reactions on how to complete last term, Khoza was seemingly left unhappy with some of the board of governors members, who are the representatives from the
PSL’s 32 teams – 16 in the DStv Premiership and 16 in the GladAfrica Championship.
“I believe this is the stage where we need to prepare for the next generation. Debriefing of the next generation needs to feature prominently in the next four-year term,” Khoza said after the elections at the Sandton Convention Centre yesterday.
“Many of our members are still not clear about the business that we are in. They do not know for sure our value propositions and funding models. It is of utmost importance that the next generation have a full glance of the business we are in.”
To ensure that the PSL’s mandate is thoroughly understood by their members and everyone from all walks of life, the BoG also elected the seven exco members for the next four years in their bid to make the league even bigger and better.
Kaizer Motaung, Mato Madlala, Stanley Matthews, David Thidiela and Dr Rejoice Simelane retained their spots on the council, while John Comitis and Robert Benadie were also inducted as they represent Cape Town City and Stellenbosch FC on the BoG respectively.
During proceedings, some of the BoG members, particularly Baroka FC and Swallows FC, wanted to have Madlala carry on as the league’s chief executive for another term, having been in the role since 2015.
But while Khoza was chuffed by the vote of confidence for one of his council members, he said: “There’s no election of the CEO. It’s just a proposal of the BoG that the executive must evaluate when we convene the first meeting. CEOs are not elected but appointed.”
@MihlaliBaleka