CAPE TOWN lost out big time at the National Soccer League’s Quadrennial General Meeting yesterday, with both John Comitis and Rob Benadie being deposed as members of the Premier Soccer League’s executive committee.
The Cape Town City (Comitis) and Stellenbosch FC (Benadie) bosses had been on the exco for the previous four years, along with Black Leopards’ David Thidiela, who did not get a nomination.
The trio have now been replaced by TS Galaxy owner Tim Sukazi, Johnny Mogaladi of Polokwane City, as well as Richards Bay’s Sifiso ‘Jomo’ Biyela.
Chairman Irvin Khoza, who was re-elected unopposed, declared his appreciation for the members who were not elected: “They were very competent members of the executive committee, and their services won’t be lost.
“They will be incorporated into strategic committees because of the intellectual memories they have and the capacity that they have.”
Kaizer Motaung (Kaizer Chiefs), Mato Madlala (Golden Arrows), Stanley Matthews (SuperSport United) and Rejoice Simelani (Mamelodi Sundowns) all retained their positions on the exco.
In an incredible move, Khoza gave Motaung a “R2 million bonus”.
“So, I would like to ask the members of the exco to grant me permission to grant Dr Motaung R2 million to spoil himself,” he said of the Kaizer Chiefs boss, who turned 80 last month.
Speaking to the media afterwards, Biyela said that Motaung “deserved every cent” of the windfall as he expressed his appreciation for the confidence shown to him and the other new members by the clubs.
“We are not here to change things, but we are here to learn from them and also come with new ideas if necessary. We are looking forward to adding more energy in terms of assisting the experienced executives – like the chairman, Bra K and Sesi Mato (Madlala) – who have been there for more than 23 years and to learn from them.“
Motaung was humbled by the honour he received from the PSL board of governors.
“It was emotional because this has been a very interesting long journey. And of course (with) Dr Khoza, both of us have been on this journey trying to manoeuvre and going forward to see how best we can improve our football in this country. It was really emotional.”
The National Soccer League held a successful Quadrennial General Meeting and elected a new Executive Committee.
Click for the full report of the meeting.
The Chiefs supremo acknowledged that his and Khoza’s time as the leaders of the professional game in the country is fast coming to an end.
“Obviously we have to be open to the young ones to take over, because our time will come to an end. There has to be a proper succession plan that we obviously must do together as a team to see how we can put certain things in plan to get a proper way forward.”
It was not immediately evident as to how the league will handle the issue of the CEO position that has been held by one of the exco members, Madlala, for years on end.
In the past, the league used to appoint a neutral CEO – such as Trevor Phillips, Joe Ndlela, Mandla Mchunu and Kjetil Siem, to mention just four – who were not attached to any of the clubs.