Johannesburg — Tim Sukazi, the supremo of top-flight outfit TS Galaxy, feels that the Premier Soccer League (PSL) judiciary system has an impartiality problem, given the fact that acting chief executive Mato Madlala and their chief sponsor DStv own clubs.
Early this month, Madlala’s Golden Arrows were found guilty of fielding an ineligible player, Simo Mbhele. However, instead of being docked as per rules in the manual compliance of the league, the club and the player only received fines.
That wasn't taken well with some members of the Board of Governors (BoG), including Sukazi. Sukazi, the former football agent-turned-administrator, has felt that there’s a clear conflict of interest and an impartiality problem in the organisation.
“There is a serious issue of impartiality,” said Sukazi, who’s also a qualified lawyer, during an interview on Sports Night Live with Andile Ncube. “It’s a fact. That we have a CEO of the league, owning a football club, is a clear conflict of interest."
"The issue of Golden Arrows, they were charged by the league for improperly registering a player and the rules are clear on the consequence of that. But instead they got a slap on the wrist because their owner is the CEO of the league.”
Sukazi said that he's not "attacking anyone, but we have got an impartiality problem. These things need to be resolved for the interest of SA football”. That is why he is also interested to know what the partners of the league think of the matter.
“I wonder how the sponsors feel about the conflict with the CEO of the league owning a team. I am prepared to talk to Multichoice or DStv to discuss the conflict of interest according to their corporate governance protocol,” Sukazi said.
However, MultiChoice is also involed in the conflict of interest saga according to Sukazi. The broadcasting company owns SuperSport and DStv, while the former owns the broadcasting rights of the league, whose chief sponsor is the latter.
MultiChoice also owns SuperSport United, a club that’s competing in the top-tier, alongside Sukazi’s Galaxy. And that’s why Sukazi believes that it’s no brainer that they get special treatment, including televised games on a regular basis.
“DStv is well represented by having a league. (However) they still have a club themselves in the league, SuperSport United. What does that tell you? That's why you see that 99.9% of SuperSport United matches are being televised,” he said.
In the interview, Sukazi was irked that rules which have been put in place by the league are not adhered to merely because all the members of the exco are club owners, asking why qualified people are not hired to run the league smoothly.
Recently, Chiefs have been embroiled in a saga with the PSL. They forfeited two matches after the outbreak of Covid-19 at their base last year. They were found guilty of contravening the laws and rules in the amendment compliance manual.
But they appealed, taking the case to Safa’s for arbitration. Advocate Nazeer Cassiem SC overturned the PSL verdict and ruled in Chiefs’ favour. But that didn’t go down well with exco member John Comitis, who owns Cape Town City.
On Wednesday night, Chiefs said they were shocked and bewildered to learn that the exco is planning on reviewing the arbitrator’s award. They said that they’ll fight to ensure that the award of the arbitrator remains and is carried out.
It is such decisions that Sukazi feels that “clubs that are capable of being exterminated for no reason because someone out there is in the best position to manipulate certain situations”. That’s why the league has to be “governed independently.”
IOL Sport