WILL TEAMS EVER BE SELF-SUFFICIENT?

My dearest readers ...

We are fresh from a not-so-Good Friday and Easter holiday, but I have not gone through the Holy book with a fine tooth comb though I know at the beginning of John’s gospel, Mary’s baby boy, Jesus says: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”

At the height of the deadly coronavirus, which has turned the world upside down, claiming more than 100 000 lives, there is no doubt we are living in different times and we are going to need bravery, foresight, strength and the courage of our convictions to get through this global health catastrophe. We will never be the same again.

We can only hope of new beginnings. We will overcome this challenge and if we approach the future with hope, we can emerge from the pandemic and build a better Eswatini. On the football front, we also need a new approach because long before the COVID-19 pandemic, some of our teams were already showing signs of disintegrating and hell-bent on taking the route to oblivion inspite of being some of the fervently supported soccer teams in this country.

I was particularly touched when Manzini Wanderers coach Nyanga ‘Crooks’ Hlophe, not for the first time this season, publicly stated that the financial challenges at the club were becoming too much to bear. He even mused that the COVID-19 pandemic was a blessing in disguise. As if such human tragedy can be equated to a sport.

tragedy

But it is a modern day tragedy that a team that boast such a huge following, a proud and rich history having been formed in 1957, seems to be season after season, thriving on the three C’s – Chaos, Crisis and Confusion.

Unpaid players salaries, shoddy performances, without a trophy since August 5, 2005, leadership crisis and impatient supporters, have come to characterise the maroon and white outfit. Wanderers schizophrenia is worse than an out-of-control roller-coaster.

The reality is that, Wanderers are an extraordinary club with ordinary players playing ordinary football thus failing to meet the expectations of their extraordinary supporters.
I know the club’s Council of Elders is currently engaged in a mission to find people who can bail out the club from the financial abyss it fell into after the unceremonious departure of Mehluli Nhlengetfwa.

Therein lies the rub. For how long are our teams going to be looking for people who can bankroll them when clearly there is no structure within? This is not sustainable, by any means. When are our teams going to be self-sustainable?

This is not just a Wanderers huge challenge but all our teams including the other members of the Big Three – Highlanders and Swallows are facing the same challenge. Stories like Moneni Pirates fans making donations of measly E2 400 as players complain of unpaid salaries and basic welfare, are not good at all.
They make a mockery of our football and would not encourage any captain of the industry to associate with the football brand. But this is the reality our football is at. It’s a grave cause for concern.

discussion

I had a discussion with a prominent football official, whose views I take seriously, and he highlighted the fact that the biggest challenge with our teams is that there is no scientific approach in any discussion and moreover, sadly, there is no leadership, organisation structure and discipline. As a result there is no institutionalised success path that can be followed.

As it is, every success is based either on the benevolent individual bankrolling the team or largely, on getting the best muti in the business.
And if the words of PLE chairman, Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula is to be believed, giving a brown envelope to some of the rotten elements in the men in black fraternity.

This approach has no long-term plans or goals. It has no self-sustainability foundations. If proper foundations were put in place, then our teams would reach a point where they don’t have to rely on a rich person to bankroll them because we have seen time and again that some of these investors are also looking at making a quick buck. And you can’t blame them. Anyone who invests his family money would obviously look to recoup it and make a profit, if he can. Isn’t football like any business venture?

cross-road

This is the cross-road most of our teams find themselves in. After the COVID-19 horror show, the financial situation will be too ghastly to contemplate as the economy will also be in dire straits. It was already struggling long before the COVID-19 crisis with high unemployment and low levels of growth. This calls for a new approach and new ideas from our team leaders if the institutions they lead are to survive and forge ahead.

Like the deadly virus has united us, it is also time to re-evaluate the state of our teams and how they can re-invent themselves. The CAF Club Licensing Programme has the roadmap of achieving this.

It is high time it is implemented fully. Otherwise our legendary teams will continue to be cannon fodder for bogus businessmen, opportunists and Benny-comes-to-town out to make a quick buck.
It’s a sad state of affairs.

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