A ‘VICTOR-IOUS’ LEADER GONE TOO SOON

MBABANE – The late PLS and Mbabane Swallows Chairman Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze never chased a dream but designed one – ensuring it was realised and that made him different and irreplaceable in football as well as in business.

The Swazi Mobile slain boss gave his all to everything he believed in. As said by Mbabane Highlanders’ Captain Xolani ‘Chocco’ Sibandze, he had a touch of gold. Below we highlight through pictures some of his notable achievements in the short period he has been working towards professionalising the game and some of his quotable quotes;

PLS Development

After FIFA and CAF tightened the screws on Club Licensing for all elite teams in the world, it took his brains to note that local clubs would not afford running development teams and came up with a solution – the Under-20 League and later the Under-17 League which he secured a sponsorship deal for with Esibayeni Lodge. Its products are already making rave reviews in the elite league four years since he formed development and ensured  PLS funded the clubs every weekend for games.

E2m TV Rights deal

Given the harsh economic state of teams, especially the smaller ones in the elite league, he came up with a plan to have grants given every season.
The deal was signed in the 2016/17 season even though only eight of the 14 clubs shared part of the money, as only E400 000 was paid out by Swazi TV. The deal failed but a brilliant idea had all parties played their role.

King’s Super Cup

For his brilliance and ambition, the King sanctioned the once-off King’s Super Cup which saw South African giant teams Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.  The Somhlolo National Stadium was so packed despite the high entry fee and his Mbabane Swallows won on the day after beating Chiefs and Leopard in final.

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