‘BIG 3’ DIRECTORSHIP CRISIS BAD FOR FOOTBALL

Mbabane Swallows’ loyalists are expectedly jittery following reports suggesting that team President Archbishop Bheki Lukhele is on his way out of the side, after over four years on board.

Here is a man who appeared to be the replacement of Swallows slain boss Victor Gamedze, who was senselessly gunned down at a filling station back on January 14, 2018.  As a big institution formed back in 1948, Swallows always have high expectations in terms of performance and budget. The bishop was reportedly spending not less than E200 000 per month, which is equivalent to about E2.4 million annually. While no one saw it coming, already there were indications even before the start of the season that the president could step down soon.
A search for a co-director had already started before the past season ended.

Like most teams of late, Swallows were registered by the late shrewd businessman, Gamedze, as his company in December 2016 and according to records from the registrar of companies, he was the only legal director. Gamedze gained sole ownership of the club in December 20, 2016. Swallows Football Club (Proprietary) Limited has been registered and incorporated in terms of the Swaziland Companies Act No 8 of 2009 as from December 20, 2016 under certificate of Incorporation No. 2592 of 2016. The exit of Archbishop Lukhele means it is back to square one in the search for a new director to run the capital city giants, who are members of the ‘Big 3’ alongside Mbabane Highlanders and Manzini Wanderers. The latter finished the season without a director, with Highlanders, the lucky one so far as South Africa-based Managing Director Chief Ally Kgomongwe remained on board. The developments paint an unwanted picture of Eswatini football. These are teams that should be the face of the country’s football. While the big teams can consider themselves unlucky to lose their bosses, what is key is how they respond to the setback. In short, it is high time they start seeing the bigger picture and ask themselves hard questions.

viability

One obvious question is about the viability of sole directorship for big teams. While finding a director is no child’s play, the big teams can do better in ensuring that they avoid starting afresh whenever they lose a director. Being registered as companies provides the obvious shareholding opportunity. At least Wanderers have already launched it but is still work in progress as they are yet to reap the rewards. They still have to be robust in selling the shares. Then there is this opportunity that has remained unexplored for years. The ‘Big 3’ need to convince one big company to sponsor them jointly like it is the case with Vodacom and South Africa’s football giants Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.

Vodacom is said to be paying Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs R1 billion sponsorship. Each team gets R500 million. No other club in South Africa gets that amount of sponsorship from a single company. If Vodacom decides to leave, another company can fill the void. These two teams bring money to the Premier Soccer League (PSL) alone. The Simunye partnership spearheaded by Highlanders Managing Director Kgomongwe partly sought to achieve the self-sustainability among the members who include the ‘big guns’. However, it seems there are frailties that keep the dream distant.

professionalise

Getting a company on board starts with making a considerable effort to professionalise these teams. No brand will want to associate itself with disorganisation and violence. So, for the ‘Big 3’ before drawing up the joint bid; they have a homework to professionalise their structures. Here we are talking about walking the talk not empty promises. While Wanderers are one of the  better behaved teams in the recently-ended season, fines figures as result of misconduct do not make for riveting reading for the other two giants, especially Highlanders. The days of donations are over, as companies now demand a return on investment, as it is the case with league sponsors MTN Eswatini.

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