A SEASONAL TICKET IN THE FORM OF A REPLICA JERSEY

“Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you,” once said an American football coach, Eddie Robinson.

He might have had the Premier League of Swaziland (PLS) Chairman, Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze in mind.
As Gamedze waxed lyrically about how his organisation’s Vision 2022 concept of empowering the teams financially has the potential to turn local football’s fortunes tenfold, one could not help but notice that the shrewd businessman has outgrown the petty clash of egos, jealousy that has come to define local football and is indeed maturing with time like good red wine in a cask. Gone is the boastfulness, devil-may-care attitude, what’s-in-for-me-and-my-team approach and it has been replaced by selflessness and thinking-outside-the-box mentality which now has the potential to turn our football lemons to lemonade, from which every team worth the tag, can drink from.

 “This is a seasonal ticket in a form of a replica jersey. The difference from a seasonal ticket is that ours has value. You cannot wear a seasonal ticket but this one you can show your team’s support at the same time boosting your team financially,” he added.
Gamedze was unapologetic that his executive committee wants to leave a legacy with this project and would be very much pleased to see it work out.

Aware of cynical critics and detractors, Gamedze said they were forging ahead with the idea as it will eradicate the animosity and jealousy whilst creating a healthy working environment for everyone in football. Gamedze seems to be driven by a popular Chinese proverb that the ‘person who says it can’t be done shouldn’t interrupt the person doing it’.

“I am above petty talk about teams or whatsoever, I have achieved everything as chairman of a club and now I am focused on helping the whole football set up. Let it be clear if 90 per cent of the teams say we are going for whatever brand, we will gladly do so. This is not a fashion parade, it’s a business decision,” he adds emphatically.

Times Sports Editor sat down with the PLS chairman and he unpacked the whole Vision 2022 concept in not-so-few-words.
TIMES: The launch of the ground breaking Vision 2022 has no doubt invoked mixed reactions from among the football people; can you briefly give us a run down on how the concept was conceived?

GAMEDZE: Basically the concept came as a result of the problems within our teams structures. We realised that our teams are struggling to survive. We realised that our fans only contribute 20 per cent towards their clubs and 80 per cent is contributed by the team directors and under this set up there is no future. If that director’s business is not doing well, he cannot fulfil his obligations like paying the players salaries. He has a duty to look after his business and family. So this concept needs us to be united and see to it that the fans and directors meet each other halfway to create a solid leadership. You cannot be unique under this concept – we are united towards one goal, which is empowering the teams.
TIMES: Can you also lay down the short term objectives of the whole exercise?

GAMEDZE: The short term of course is that we want to start with the replicas in the 2015/16 season and in four months the consignment will be here from China. But in future we will have it ready four months before the start of the new season. We also plan to hire a business development officer who will drive this initiative as the PLS must have its own products. We also plan to introduce the PLS TV which will be a programme featuring our teams, with a club profile screened once a week and then of course our own newspaper because when you are in business you need to be able to push your own propaganda.

TIMES: What about long term?
GAMEDZE: Of long term we want to ensure there is stability within the teams by empowering the fans to vote for their own Board of Directors, which will in turn appoint its own chairman. As PLS we are not happy with the in-fighting within the teams directorship. We want to bring this anarchy to an end.

TIMES: How does the vision connect to the CAF Club licensing which also seeks to improve the structures of football clubs?
GAMEDZE: If anything, most of the things in the Vision 2022 will compliment the CAF Licensing requirements. Everything will be easier if this concept works out. You see, the problem countries like Ghana for instance have found it hard to embrace the CAF Licensing despite that they are more successful than us is due to the fact that these things need money. So this concept will help in that regard because it’s a pity that the league chairperson does not attend the CAF meetings to let them know that all the wonderful dreams they have need money. There is no allocation for the Premier League yet it is very expensive to run football in Africa.

TIMES: The intentions from the outset are clear that you desire to empower clubs financially while you improve the standard of the game, but does the PLS have the human resource to manage the whole project?
GAMEDZE: The truth is that we don’t have. The PLS is under-staffed perhaps by 50 per cent. The PSL in South Africa employs more than 20 people yet we only have four. The difference between the two leagues is just four teams and all the resources they have. We will need a lot of volunteers for this project to be paid on commission basis.

TIMES: What role can fans and clubs play in as far as advancing the vision?
GAMEDZE: Firstly, we need to educate the fans so that they know their role. In simple terms, everything is going to be pre-paid like paying your water and electricity. Fans will be paying gate takings for their teams upfront through buying the replicas. Once you have bought the replica, you have supported your team financially for the whole season. You don’t even need to go to the stadium. As a family it would be advisable to buy two or more replicas you can share.

TIMES: The whole concept also gives the fans more power. Are we not going back to the old days where fans had power to change leadership at whim whenever they feel like causing instability within the team structures?

GAMEDZE: Before fans had power and no responsibility. Now we have given the fans power and more responsibility. If a person has responsibility, he/she cannot kill something he/she has invested in.

TIMES: Being in the format of the seasonal tickets in more established leagues, fans will now gain free entry when they wear their teams’ replicas, explain the concept in terms of gate collections and hosting rights?

GAMEDZE: The hosting rights will continue to be there. For example, if Swallows are hosting a game, Swallows fans wearing the replicas will gain free entry and the opposition team fans wearing the replicas will get 50 per cent discount. If you do not have the replica then it will be a bit expensive for you, say you will watch a E40 game for E60 because you are not part of the PLS family.

TIMES: What is the sharing ratio with regard to the sale of the replicas?

GAMEDZE: The whole concept is to empower the teams, so the whole amount will go to the teams with the PLS only receiving what we can call handling fees, which is a small percentage. If say Leopard sell 4 000 replicas and make E2.5 million, the PLS will receive handling fees of 10 per cent or less of that amount to cover the costs because we are handling the whole deal. The large chunk will go to the teams. It’s their money.

TIMES: The concept also seems to favour the armed forces sides who already have the large numbers to buy the replicas. Is the PLS not making the strong teams stronger and the weak teams weaker? 

GAMEDZE: It’s a pity that whenever you take a decision as a leader, you think of how many people will benefit. I am Swallows’ chairman but I didn’t consider Swallows only. I had the whole country’s football in mind. Yes, the armed forces, because they are organised, will benefit more but if we have that mindset, we will not achieve anything. We want to leave a legacy. This is challenge to the rest of the teams to revive their marketing drives and strategies. This concept will empower teams to even recruit from the armed forces as they will be able to pay players salaries that could range to E20 000 and above. In the end, all the teams will have equal buying power and the ground will be level.

TIMES: What will happen to teams which already have their own personal sponsors like Wanderville in the case of Wanderers or Puma for Mbabane Highlanders and Kappa in the case of Manzini Sundowns?

GAMEDZE: We have made it clear that we will use one brand. A team must weigh what it is benefitting from its deal with whatever brand they have and compare it to ours. As PLS we will advise and then take a stand. Our stand is simple – we will go with the majority. We will be dressed uniformly because it gives more buying power.

TIMES: We have been informed that the replicas will come from China. How true is this?

GAMEDZE: Yes, I have already spoken to a brand but we are open to other brands. If there is a company in Swaziland willing to give us the price we have in mind, then we will consider them. We want somebody who will give us value for money. We want maximum profits. We will go East because we want to make money. It’s not the label, it’s the profit that matters. The Swazi market has been abused and people are not exposed. Even brands like Nike, Adidas and Umbro will be considered as long as the price is good. This is not a fashion parade, it’s business and our interest is to make money for the teams. In future, we might consider even having the manufacturing company here in Swaziland and do more soccer/sports products other than replicas. We are thinking outside the box.

TIMES: Does this concept accommodate other sponsors on the teams’ jerseys?

GAMEDZE: Yes, it will accommodate other sponsors but the front view will be for the league sponsors. We will be selling that space to the league sponsor who will enjoy massive advertising mileage. Imagine 18 000 fans wearing replicas with an MTN logo at Somhlolo? It’s a movable billboard, so to speak. That marketing space is worth E7 million and we are going to give teams E5 million of that money before the start of the 2015/16 season with the rest going to prize monies.

TIMES: The concept dovetails with His Majesty King Mswati III’s Vision 2022, what would be your message to government and other stakeholders on this?

GAMEDZE: We are appealing for support from His Majesty’s government and all other stakeholders. We also need a law that will ensure that whosoever tries forging our replicas is heavily punished. We are still to unpack this concept to the relevant government structures because this has the potential to help His Majesty’s dream of seeing Sihlangu participate in AFCON becoming a reality.
TIMES: Your message to fans?

GAMEDZE: We are saying, with a population of one million people, if 100 000 Swazis, which is 10 per cent can buy the replicas at E450 each, we would have E45 million and it would be enough to turn our football professional. We are not asking for a sponsorship, we are asking fans to help sustain their own teams. Through this we will make almost 10 times our national sports budget and we might even consider subsidizing other sporting codes. Through football we can achieve it but it needs the support of the nation.
TIMES: Your last message?

GAMEDZE: I would be proud as chairman if this concept can work out. We are trying to empower all the teams. As chairman it is always good to see all 12 teams shining, not only to see your own team doing well. Some of us have passed the stage of being selfish and focusing on Swallows because that has only created unnecessary enemies for me and you end up fighting with people who have only eight months in football administration. The problem is that in Swaziland, unlike other countries, some people do not accommodate one being chairman of the league and chairman of a club. This will create a healthy environment and we can all be friends again.
TIMES: Thanks for your time

GAMEDZE: Always a pleasure Mkhulu...

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: