BIG 3 MUST ASSIST DIRECTORS– MBAZO, MOZ LEGENDS

MBABANE – Local and Mozambique legends have challenged the country’s ‘big three’ to explore ways of reducing the burden of their directors.

The ‘big three’ comprises Mbabane Highlanders, Swallows and Manzini Wanderers. The trio are run by sole directors. One of its members being Wanderers is without a director currently. They had a tough spell last season after struggling to fulfil the players’ financial contractual obligations.  The club almost got relegated. Meanwhile, Swallows’ President Arch-Bishop Bheki Lukhele has been linked with an exit at Swallows. So far, Highlanders are still safe with their South African based Managing Director Chief Ally Kgomongwe who joined them in 2019.

Former national team and Weslians defender Jerry ‘Mbazo’ Gamedze urged the teams to explore new ways to financially enrich the teams. He was speaking on Saturday after Wanderers’ legends faced off with their Mozambique counterparts from Matola.  “When these directors leave, teams are left in trouble yet they can make marketing drives that can make them financially independent.  They must look upon having their own sports shops to sell their copy-righted merchandise,” Gamedze said. He went on to say that, this was likely to generate monthly income for teams as they were the most supported in the country. He said they could still also use even their branches to reach out to their masses scattered across the country. He said exodus of directors was a serious concern for the teams and feared that it could lead to extinction of big football clubs brands.

survived

“We are happy as legends that Wanderers survived relegation because I feared we would not return in elite football. We have some teams who suffered similar incidents such as Mhlambanyatsi Rovers, Hub Sundowns and Dribbling Wizards,” the legend noted. However, his Mozambique’s counterparts also shared similar sentiments. Matola Legends Captain known as Calo called for sound directors. “We are facing the same challenge even in Mozambique. Directors leave clubs and leave them in crisis because they are fully relient on them. Some of the bosses are not serious such that even when they get some little cash, it is not used to serve the best interest of the clubs,” Calo added.

Meanwhile, Phenias Madlanzi, a former Weslians’ legend echoed Calo. He felt the only remedy was to have teams owning their own infrastructures.  Madlanzi donned the maroon and white outfit in the 1997/1998 season. “Clubs must have their own grounds so they could cut the cost of renting them and even make more profits from gate collections. You find that teams lose much of the money which must be going towards helping the directors run the clubs. They spend a lot on booking stadiums which makes them enjoy little benefits from their crowds after the deductions,” Madlanzi said. Noteworthy is that among the big three, Swallows had made some effort to cut the cost of running the club from their president. At the beginning of last season, they partnered with Eclipse Catering which provides Swallows club house with some meals.

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