HAPPY BIRTHDAY IRVIN KHOZA: but at 69, perhaps it's time to step down

SALUTE! Irvin Khoza, 69 on Friday

Irvin Khoza is a very, very, very nice man.

LIARS AND BUYERS: South African football slides in to chaos... even if Lesufi can find R55m by Friday

FOOTBALL'S MUGABE: Dr Irvin Khoza

WEEKS ago I said the PSL were getting in to awkward territory when they agreed to John Comitis buying Mpumalanga Black Aces while Panyaza Lesufi was publicly expressing his desire to buy a place for Moroka Swallows back in the top flight.

For the third time in a year, I produced FIFA and NSL documents showing that the “buying of promotion” was illegal in modern football, that it had been out-lawed since 2007.

But nobody listened. Comitis was allowed to demolish Aces, taking 14 of their players 1000 miles south to his new-fangled Cape Town City, while swapping coaches with Orlando Pirates.

Turk Muhsin Etrugral was grabbed by Khoza amid surprising levels of optimism from Bucca fans, Eric Tinkler was dispatched to Cape Town where, as far as I can tell, another eight players are still needed to complete a workable squad for the “boys in blue”, who plan to play their games on Friday nights in the Mother City.

All this in a tourist mecca that barely produces enough paying fans for one club, let alone a second one apparently constructed purely to under-mine Ajax Cape Town.

That was bad enough. What has happened with Free State Stars and Moroka Swallows’ powerful ANC MEC for Education Lesufi is sending South African football headlong in to chaos.

Eight days ago, after much huffing and puffing, Lesufi went on Metro FM with Robert Marawa and, though he would not say which club he had bought, the mighty Marawa assured us: “This deal is done.”

With Lesufi proclaiming The Birds were now owned by a “consortium of supporters”, we looked forward to “final authorisation” from the PSL last week with R55m promised to ease the pain of Free State Stars, who would duly buy an NFD franchise and play their way back to the top flight.

It was at that point, Orlando Pirates got involved. An agent was dispatched to Bethlehem even as Lesufi made his brave proclamations. Within 24 hours, Justice Chabalala, wanted by Kaizer Chiefs, Sello Japhta and the talented Ayanda Nkosi had all decamped for the Sea Robbers.

And Bradley Carnell, the former Bundesliga star who helped Stars sign up new French coach Denis Lavagne, suddenly found himself at a “big club” for the first time. We chatted about it, I’ve always rated Carnell... but the whole saga surprised us both.

A week later and, apart from a rabble-rousing meeting with Swallows fans on Sunday, nothing happened. No official announcement from the PSL. No word from Stars to their bemused fans, though they played in a local tournament over the weekend under Lavagne but without the trio who had left for Pirates.

And then Irvin Khoza, chairman of both Pirates and the PSL for over 20 years, called an emergency conference at the PSL to tell us NO DEAL, the money hadn’t been deposited, Lesufi has until Friday to come up with the cash or Free State Stars would be resurrected like a footballing Lazarus.

As a rambling, almost incoherent Khoza told us: "We hope that Ntate Lesufi is listening together with the people of the trust he's involved in.

"I want to appeal to MEC Lesufi that together with whoever he's involved with in the consortium to finalise this ASAP.

"If we we don't have clarity by the end of the week there will be no transaction, change of club or anything like that. There will be nothing for us to consider. Our position as the League, right now, is that we await a full report from the parties."

Khoza, who stands astride our football like a gold-toothed Robert Mugabe, rambled: "I spoke to Mr Lesufi and he apologised. I hope they will conclude it this week. Because we can't wait too long.

"We are dissappointed because they let the cat out of the bag prematurely. As it stands, no application has been made.

"If the intention of this trust is to buy the club and seek a name change, that is a matter to be dealt with when the time comes (Khoza claims the name Moroka Swallows had NEVER been mentioned).

Khoza went on to make similar contradictory, never-ending comments on Metro FM a couple of hours later, waxing lyrical about footballing traditions, and the pain caused to Free State Stars “players, officials and family”.

But of course, he was being economical with the truth. A deal HAD been done, and Khoza himself was part of that deal, as he immediately grabbed as many Stars staff as he could for free.

The only hitch? Lesufi failed to deposit the R55m, money that, for some reason, is linked to an agent called Francesco Ferreri, an Italian South African who has featured before without distinction as an agent involved at Moroka Swallows and named by sources in Zimbabwe during their recent match-fixing scandal.

I’d like to say such chaos is normal in the running of a football league, but it’s not. This goes way beyond Greek and Turkish footballing mayhem and in to the dark reaches of corruption and fraud.

Khoza knew about the Lesufi deal - the proof is in the pudding with Nkosi, Japhta, Chabalala and Carnell - and to say Panyaza’s “brand” will be ruined by non-payment is pure hypocrisy.

Lesufi has only himself to blame for the mess he now finds himself in. But if the money is paid by Friday, the YESMEN culture in our game will rescue his reputation and, as Marawa said over a week ago, Panyaza will return to being a candidate for South African President for his manic bid to rescue Moroka Swallows who, whatever happens, are scheduled to play in the third division ABC Motsepe League next season.

Khoza sits with the spoils of the deal in the Pirates training camp in Potchefstroom. Lesufi is scrabbling around for R55m (Khoza said it was “more than Comitis paid for Aces”) and Free State Stars don’t know if they’re in the PSL, the NFD or the grave yard.

These are the facts. The questions that move us beyond this chaos are these:

Will Pirates return the three Stars and their new assistant coach Carnell to Free State Stars if the deal falls through?

Can Free State Stars continue to function given the club's silence during this sordid affair? Will their tiny band of fans simply give up?

Can Khoza, 68, continue to run the PSL where he has presided for over 20 years given his bizarre outbursts which appeared to amount to threats against ANC MEC Lesufi?

Just a political thought: can Lesufi himself escape unscathed as a prominent politician given his part in all this?

And all this of course, flying in the face of FIFA’s directives. You can’t buy promotion, politicians can’t be involved in football, players cannot be discarded or sent to another club unless they are consulted.

In proper footballing nations, teams are deducted 10 points if they go bankrupt. They are demoted, like Scottish champions Rangers, to the LAST available division.

It’s a mess. A terrible mess. Even if Lesufi gets his money by Friday and Khoza goes silent, we face a PSL season like none other. FOUR new clubs, 10 teams out of 16 who look very different to last season. And barely a transfer fee in sight. Millions paid to change clubs, not a penny spent on academies or development.

Though the PSL won’t confirm it, our national premier division suffered their lowest EVER attendances last season, dipping under 6,000. Will Cape Town City, Moroka FC, Highlands Park and Baroka stop that decline? I seriously doubt it.

We are caught up in something called the Carling Champions Cup which involves the fifth and seventh best teams in the country. Two of our Olympic squad are going to be late for Rio because of it.

And PSL sponsors ABSA? Do they get told what happens to their millions?

One final point: Is SAFA, the umbrella under which all this happens, even aware? Has Danny Jordaan, like Lesufi a prominent ANC politician, shown ANY interest?


Here's what I wrote when AmaZulu football, my favourite team, were trying to buy a place back in the PSL a year ago: http://neal-collins.blogspot.co.za/2015/06/relegated-amazulu-cough-up-r82m-to.html

BREAKING EVERY RULE IN THE BOOK: weep no tears for Free State Stars and Aces, the PSL rolls on

SALUTE! Dr Irvin Khoza, PSL chairman
for 20 years, in a military uniform for no
apparent reason 

BILL SHANKLY, the legendary Scotsman who managed Liverpool from from 1959 to 1974, once said: “Football isn’t about life and death. It’s more important than that.”

Fortunately, South Africans don’t live by that code. Money is our God.

In large swathes of Europe, Latin America or even Asia and parts of northern Africa, your football club is your identity. It’s what defines you.

On a social night out, you will wear you team colours with pride; it says something about you, offers an instant introduction. Football is your small-talk, your bed-and-breakfast… in some nations like Spain, Egypt and Scotland, it signifies your tribe, your roots, your religion.

But not in South Africa. Here we don’t have segregated crowds, we don’t divide home and away fans on the way out of the ground with mounted police… and we don’t scare visiting teams when they visit our land for continental competition.

South African football is devoid of passion, wearing a football shirt, though still common, has little to do with identity or outlook. Ultimately, nobody cares. Our national football sides under-perform, our PSL attendances are at an all time low, the president of SAFA is almost entirely absent and openly admits “football is just my hobby”.

Football is the beautiful game, the global passion. But somehow, amid the more obvious horrors of Apartheid, we failed to pick up the essence of the game here at the southern tip of Africa.

Sound harsh? This off-season we found out just how little football means to the average South African. While our cricket and rugby types tend to stick to their local province like glue, we have seen two historic soccer clubs shut down and the very idea of hard-won promotion to the top flight dealt a fatal blow.

There has been no outcry, I have yet to spot an Mpumalanga Black Aces or Free States Stars fan, let alone a protest march packed with them.

Last year, when relegated Amazulu tried to purchase financially troubled Aces for R80m, the PSL rightly denied them the chance to buy their way back. Looking at this FIFA directive distributed in 2007, it’s easy to see why: http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/circular_1132_en_34078.pdf

But this bleak mid-winter, things have taken a turn for the worse. First PSL executive member John Comitis, having left Ajax Cape Town after falling out with his in-laws, was allowed to buy Aces from the Morfou brothers for a price believed to be in the region of R50m.

He kept 14 of their players, released last year’s PSL top scorer Collins Mbesuma and moved the club 1000km south and renamed them Cape Town City. They already have a kit sponsorship and will spend the next 10 months attempting to destroy the established club in the Mother City.

As I speak, Technical Director Craig Rosslee admits the club need another 10 players to start the season. And former Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler, neatly swapped with Aces boss Muhsin Etrugral at Aces, is sifting his way through a legion of cut-price journeymen to fill the gaps.

Then last night we had Gauteng MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi telling Metro FM: “I have saved Moroka Swallows, we are back in the PSL” while refusing to divulge the name of the selling club, the name of the resurrected team and admitting: “The real Swallows will remain in Division Three, we will tell the fans that on Sunday”.

In all my footballing life, I have rarely heard such gushing nonsense from both Lesufi, an ambitious ANC politician, nor his interviewer Robert Marawa. He was asked no searching questions, just patted on the back and told he was a hero destined for the presidency.

BUYING FAVOUR: Article 30 of the NSL's rule book

In fact, he is an elected official breaking FIFA and SAFA rules, but that's not new in this country. Like everybody else, I was sad to see Swallows, an historic Soweto club, slip in to the NFD and then the ABC Motsepe League in successive seasons. Quite where Mr Lesufi was when debt-ridden owner Leon Prins was looking for help over the last two seasons, nobody knows.

At one point, during their NFD relegation battle last season, he said: "Perhaps Swallows need to be relegated again."

On Metro on Tuesday night, we heard Lesufi admitting: “We cannot be called Moroka Swallows in the PSL, but we want to keep the team colours, the bird on the badge and we’ll play at Dobsonville” while neglecting to mention their average crowd over the past five seasons in under 400 (I’d give an exact figure but the PSL keeps these things in the file labelled TOP SECRET).

When Comitis was allowed to buy Aces, the PSL told us he wasn’t really buying promotion, he was stepping in to save a failing business. It’s a very delicate argument, easily knocked down.

But what Lesufi has done, spending an estimated R55m to buy Free State Stars’s place in the PSL, breaks every rule in the book.

As I write, Orlando Pirates - whose elderly chairman Irvin Khoza has run the PSL with an iron hand for 20 years - have already snapped up three Ea Lla Koto players for free with the official announcement of the deal still pending.

Just as with the Ertugral/Tinkler swap, Pirates appear to be the major footballing benefactors with Ayanda Nkosi, Justice Chabalala and Sello Japhta all headed for Parktown with unseemly haste. The little stars of Bethlehem are falling fast.

Free State Stars meanwhile, having announced the arrival of new French coach Denis Lavagne barely a fortnight ago, are believed to be plotting the purchase of NFD club Mthatha Bush Bucks and hope to win the NFD before anybody really notices they’re gone.

I’ve got this picture of Lavagne calling his assistant Bradley Carnell in the morning screaming: “Bradley?! I am at ze training? Where is ze club? Iz gone! Sacre bleu!”

And Moroka Swallows or whatever they’ll be called? No players, no coach, no kit… just a month before the new season. With Gordon Igesund likely to return the Dube Birds, his agent Mike Makaab will no doubt sort out a squad of talented veterans and tough journeymen to do a job.

But for Free State Strars, whose website still talks about the arrival of Lavagne and the player for pre-season not to mention the local Mayoral Cup, there is nothing.

The side finishing 12th in the PSL is GONE. Aces, who finished a record fourth last season? Gone. And Cape Town City will apparently take their place in the lucrative MTN8 pre-season tournament, which must be galling for those who finished below them.

With Highlands Park and Baroka FC promoted, the PSL fixture list will take on a bizarre new look. There will be a Cape Town derby, Roger de Sa against Eric Tinkler, Comitis v Efstathiou, but that’s all Greek to me. Will the “Oldest Soweto Derby” see Moroka Vultures against Orlando Pirates? What happens if Comitis and Lesufi get relegated? Can they just pay to stay up?

The questions are endless. The PSL are talking about kicking-off the new season after the Olympics with midweek games in August. The transfer window is devoid of any real spending. Chippa United, though pleading poverty, have signed 17 new players, including three international selected Orlando Pirates youngers. Dr Khoza has allegedly handed out millions to club chairman to keep the wheels turning.

The NFD remains sponsorless, with a R400,000 prize, while the third division Motsepe League offers a million to their champions. We start the season without a SINGLE South African in the English Premier League, a first in my memory, and even China aren’t buying our locals.

But we soldier on. Lesufi’s Vultures under Igesund may surprise us, Tinkler’s City may overwhelm the odds, Baroka FC might finish above Kaizer Chiefs, who threw out 20 players and signed eight journeymen. Highlands Park v Orlando Pirates sounds like something out of the 80s.

But I've said this all before. There's just one question which needs answering: Why was Lesufi allowed to buy Free State Stars’ place in the PSL when Patrick Sokhela’s AmaZulu were denied the same right a year before? I think we should be told.

SIMPLY NDORABLE: the astonishing rise of Orlando Pirates and their goal-happy TENdai!

TEN FOR TENDAI: Ndoro is in a rich run of form

SIMPLY NDORABLE. The fairytale of Tinkler Ball. An Orlando Pirates revival that has become too impressive to ignore. And too bizarre to leave unexplored.

In truth, WWWWDWWWW since February 21 should never have happened. Coach Eric Tinkler was widely touted for the axe after the CAF Confederations final defeat at the start of December, but his chairman Irvin Khoza just never got around to chopping off his coach's head.

The man popularly known as #Tinklerout remained in charge confiding in me “what will be, will be, that’s football” as he struggled from game to game before Christmas. At one point the mighty Buccaneers, double treble winners just four years ago, looked a hopeless case in 13th position, just above the top three. Unthinkable for a side NEVER relegated. 

The Sea Robbers, as their nickname suggested, were all at sea complete with leaking ship and powderless cannons.

It got worse. Kermit Erasmus went overboard without warning, and left for France, Thamsanqa Gabuza walked the plank, disappearing from the squad with apparent burn-out. Tinkler, scrambling for a life jacket in an ocean of despair, turned to a 27-year-old from Luwewe in Zimbabwe called Tendai Ndoro. It was sink or swim.

A Chicken Inn product, Ndoro was impressive at Aces, where he scored 14 goals in 41 games, before the big move to Soweto. But despite what looked to me to be a sharp pre-season, Ndoro languished on the bench at Pirates for months. He was lucky to even get a seat as Tinkler stuck with Erasmus, Gabuza and the curiously sluggish Lehlohonolo Majoro.

TOLD YOU SO! My tweet in September last year
questioning the disappearance of Tendai Ndoro

On September 15, 2015, I tweeted about Ndoro being surplus to requirements and sent an SMS to Eric Tinkler, a coach who is always polite enough to reply. He said Tendai was not training well, and had confidence problems. 

But needs must. Let’s return to the low point: 3-0 down at half-time to rock-bottom Maritzburg United on January 16, Ndoro comes on at half-time, fails to score but they grab a point, 3-3.

There’s a few up and downs after that but February 21 is the key point. With Gabuza and Erasmus gone, Ndoro scored in the 3-1 win over an in-form Aces in Mpumalanga.

And then the run began. With Chiefs STILL stuck winless since February 20, here’s the full story of Pirates revival with Ndoro’s goals listed:

21 Feb: 3-1 Aces (a) Ndoro 1

27 Feb: 1-0 Celtic (h)

5 March: 2-0 Chiefs (a) Ndoro 2

12 March: 5-0 Cosmos (h) Ndoro 1

16 March: 0-1 Wits (a)

3 April: 3-1 Cosmos (a) Ndoro 2

9 April: Free State Stars 1-0 (h) Ndoro 1

16 April: Arrows 4-1 (a) Nodder 2

23 April Sundowns 2-0 (a) Ndoro 1

Nine games in all competitions, one defeat.. and TEN GOALS for Tendai Ndoro. Pirates have gone WWWWLWWWW while rivals Chiefs are on a run of DDLLLLLD since mid February. Incredible.

During that time, Tebogo Moloi, the long-running assistant boss at Pirates, has disappeared on long leave. Fitness coach Warren Engelbrecht and effervescent goalkeeping trainer Rowen Fernandez sit alongside Tinkler.

Captain Oupa Manyisa has been out injured and has yet to return. Gabuza has played twice for Bafana but not for Pirates. Crowds at the Orlando Stadium have dipped below 3,000. The Iron Duke called a press conference not to announce exciting new developments but to mark the retirement of near-legendary centre-back Siya Sangweni.

The pressure has never eased. Even at 0-0 against Sundowns on Saturday night, the Ghost were haunting Tinkler. Saying he was tactically inept, should have made changes, was hopeless.

But Tinkler just gritted his teeth and held on, as he has ever since Roger de Sa left for Ajax Cape Town two years ago, even when unlamented Vladimir Vermecovic was making a hash of it. Tinkler doesn’t quit. He hangs on despite the odds. And it worked. Down to ten men, Ndoro scored in extra-time, then made the second goal.

And Tinkler, through to the Nedbank Cup semi-finals, was left smiling: “We were down to 10 and I had to play that way. I knew they would be vulnerable to the break away… and they were.”

Ndoro, with his streaky hair and slick demeanour said simply: “We work hard. We work as a team. We want the Nedbank Cup.”

Now breathing over the shoulders of arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the PSL and threatening the top four, Tinkler and Ndoro lifting silverware would be the icing on the cake.

And given the position at Christmas, a true footballing fairy tale.

REVEALED: The SAFA letter from Wilson Raj Perumal, master match-fixer. Not sent to Leslie Sedibe but to Kirsten Nematandani

EXCLUSIVE: This is the letter now-banned former SAFA CEO Leslie Sedibe
was waving about at his press conference today. His name does not appear. But
former SAFA President Kirsten Nematandani and Wilson Raj Perumal ARE there

EXCLUSIVE: original notes from Leslie Sedibe's FIFA interview, mentioned today
He says SAFA was dysfunctional. And that Bafana Bafana had no money or plans
for preparation. Here's what it goes on to say:

He found that with the 2010 World cup looming Bafana Bafana had no established training camp and all the main locations had been taken, the team had no warm up friendlies booked and they were running out of time to get them as most teams in the tournament had booked the best opposition already.

Mr. Sedibe went on to say that SAFA had no money at this time and few major sponsors even though they were hosting the world cup.

He felt he needed to concentrate on fund raising for training camps and bringing in sponsors.

Mr. Sedibe recalled that early in March games had been hastily arranged against Swaziland, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

He said the bank had funded the training camp in Brazil as the Association had no money and that the team had mainly played club sides. The coach did not view this as ideal preparation for a World cup and requested another camp and against International competition, preferably against South American teams in preparation for Mexico who was to be Bafana Bafana’s opposition in the first stage of the WC.

The coach wanted a match that would be against opposition with a similar playing style and Mr. Sedibe agreed they should try to find a team that would be good opposition from South America but it proved to be quite difficult.

The team held a camp in Germany and had a game against China prepared but China pulled out at the last minute and the camp in Germany was not ideal preparation. The Team manager was deemed to be negligent and charges were listed against him. The team manager had also failed to provide a budget for the training camp after numerous requests to do so by Mr. Sedibe and the head of finance Mr. Gronie Hluyo. The team manager was removed from the training camp and pulled off the flight to Germany.

There were a number of issues Mr. Sedibe had to deal with in respect of this camp. There was no branding, matches were cancelled without notice by Bafana Bafana causing embarrassment to the sponsors Addidas who had acted to secure the team friendly matches at the last minute.

Mr. Sedibe called in Keith Darcy of KAM, a sports management company based in the UK to assist in recovering the training camp. Friendlies were arranged against Korea DPR and Jamaica.

Other international sides such as Italy, Brazil and Argentina were approached but they already had full warm up schedules.

The next camp was held in Johannesburg and again it was poor quality. Mr. Sedibe had managed to secure some funding from the Lotteries board at this time to ease the financial burden on the association but they were still in dire financial straits.

It was at this point that the approach to provide referees was made by football 4 U. The association was struggling for funding even with some money coming in from the lotteries board, the organization itself was dysfunctional and Mr. Sedibe spent most of his time away from the office working on sponsors and other revenue streams.

Mr. Sedibe did not remember Ace Kika or Steve Goddard bringing anyone to his office to discuss Football 4U, but he did not rule it out. He said it was entirely plausible but added that he would have seen any number of people and contracts through out a working day at that time, with the World cup countdown well and truly in progress.

Oh, and here's SAFA's response to the banning of Sedibe, Adeel Carelse and Steve Goddard in an official statement tonight, from Poobalan Govindsasamy, head of their Ethics Committee:

“At SAFA we have a zero-tolerance policy for any corrupt activity which impacts negatively on this beautiful game and for that reason we welcome strong measures against any individual who is found guilty of such offenses. This should serve as a warning to anyone harbouring intentions of engaging in nefarious activities within the sport that the long arm of the law will catch up with them. Be warned."

Govindsasamy, when challenged by Robert Marawa later, admitted he had no documents on the latest bannings and insisted he was NOT a paid official at SAFA. He claimed not to have been properly briefed by SAFA on the match-fixing affair. Shocking.

THE FIFA CORRUPTION SCANDAL: how South Africa has reacted (video from Sky News, SABC and eTV Sunrise)

ODD COUPLE: Jordaan and Blatter

SINCE the initial FIFA arrests in Zurich nearly two weeks ago, the world has been eager for information on just when and where World Cup corruption took place.

Since South African sports minister Fikile Mbalula's emphatic denials, the story has twisted and turned like a dangerous roller coaster at Alton Towers - and Sepp Blatter has resigned despite winning the vote 133-73 for his FIFTH re-election.

Many South Africans have been implicated, though we cannot yet say who "co-conspirators" 15 and 16 are, as featured in the 160 page FIFA indictment. Only SIX of those pages actually touch on South Africa's World Cup bid. But even today, the South African papers are hot on the trail of Danny Jordaan, Dr Irvin Khoza and even former president Thabo Mbeki.

Here are some of the videos I've posted as the story developed. Anybody who follows me on twitter will know the arguments, the accusations of bias... but have a look at these snippets to get a better idea of what is REALLY happening as the FBI burrow in to world football's governing body...

Here's today's Sky News interview, in my Kaizer Chiefs t-shirt!




And here's Thursday's Sky News effort, skyped on a cold, dark night outside a Pretoria restaurant!




This is my telephonic effort for the SABC's Morning Live, I've also done Question Time and Media Monitor for them in the last week:





And here's me with the 160-page FIFA indictment, offering the Sports Minister a hand on eTV Sunrise...

South African football is in crisis, and here's why (includes video)

ONCE A PIRATE: Irvin Khoza, PSL chairman

DISKI Mzanzi is in crisis. South African football faces falling attendances, a dying transfer market, a merry-go-round of FOURTEEN coaching changes in a 16-team league.


We have barely recovered from an AFCON which saw Bafana garne JUST A SINGLE POINT when both of our African Champions League "giants" - leaders Kaizer Chiefs and current PSL champions Mamelodi Sundowns - went crashing out in the first round.


There were no refereeing blunders, there was no intimidation, just humiliation. Failure.



This morning on the South African 24-hour news channel ANN7 (205 on your DSTV bouquet) I appeared on Peter van Onselen's "Phuka" morning show in an attempt to get across the true depth of the crisis facing our game. Though my football writing colleagues will rail against it and Twitter will issue threats, it's only the truth.



Denigrating South African football is not my agenda. Improvement, change, even revolution is needed. Just like Issa Hayatou, PSL chairman Irvin Khoza, the man who took over Orlando Pirates in the early 1990s, is in his late 60s and has been in charge of the game in this country for over 20 years.


And quite apart from the problems highlighted above, Khoza runs a club which closed its academy due to age cheating, he has refused to promote Eric Tinkler from his caretaker role despite unprecedented success and though his club pulls in MILLIONS in sponsorship, he refuses to spend money on his team.

He can't even run his club properly, let alone the PSL. And I am reliably informed it was Khoza who dictated the new conditions for agents in this country after FIFA's recommended treatment for "intermediaries"... though the legislation promised on April 1 has failed to materialise.


This is not an anti-Khoza rant, just a polite request for change. For truth. Though the South African media big guns - particularly Robert Marawa, Thomas Mlambo and the excitable Sunday Times "sports editor" BBK - will deny it, our game is not healthy.


As I say in the video below, our clubs don't scout for players, the rely on agents. Though there is a reputed R14,000-a-month minumum wage in the PSL, many youngsters are on a fraction of that. I know of one who has played 10 first team games this season and is on R2,000 a month. Another who played for Bafana at COSAFA and is on R6000... about the level of a supermarket shelf stacker.


From the bottom to the top - where Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates join billionaire Patrice Motsepe's Sundowns as the only clubs in the financial comfort zone - were are watching our game fall apart. There is no investment, no marketing, no sign of grass roots growth from Danny Jordaan's infamous FIFA Legacy Fund, a R500m post-World Cup 2010 bonus.


I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but it would be handy if a few people opened their eyes to the truth. Dr Khoza himself has acknowledged the influence of agents on our national head coaches; we have done NOTHING to establish who was involved in the pre-World Cup match-fixing scandal... SAFA won't even discuss their two most recent promises of a Technical Director and a statue for the murdered captain Senzo Meyiwa.



I don't make these things up. I don't enjoy endless repetition of the negative. But SOMETHING MUST BE DONE.

The curious tale of Orlando Pirates: champions of self-destruction and bounce-backability

The happy couple: the awkward meeting of VV and Dr Khoza

In all my travels, all my reading, all my enthusiastic football watching on five continents, I have never come across a club quite like Orlando Pirates FC.

The Buccaneers.  The Sea Robbers. The Happy People. Love and Peace. Once, Always. Before former player Kaizer Motaung came along with his Chiefs, they were the biggest and the best in South Africa. And long after that, in the post-democracy dream year 1995, they became the nation’s once and only winners of the African Champions League, reaching the final again last year.

Ah, the history. Founded in 1937 with the skull and crossbones logo (though, anachronistically, I’m told Orlando Boys Club were styled after the 1940 Errol Flynn film “The Sea Hawk”), run by modern-day Pirate Irvin Khoza, a team of trebles and sinister forces, incredible cup runs and inexplicable exchanges of both players and coaches.


I've been asked to highlight the key problems many times on the social networks. Here it is in a sentence: Dr Khoza only appoints coaches who he can control, men desperate for a another crack at the big time. Amazingly, it's worked quite well at times.

Do that make them rebellious? Reckless? It’s not as if the Soweto suburb of Orlando derived its name from a famous maverick. That particular area of the South Western Townships was named after Edwin Orlando Leake, Mayor of Johannesburg from 1925 to 1926.

I wrote a history of Soweto for my friend Vuyo Dewati a few years ago and had a look at “Mr Orlando” and his past. He wasn’t a bad fellow for a chairman of “Native Affairs”. He built two-bedroomed houses for the working class in 1932 with the intention of creating “a model township”.  Judge the result for yourself: vibrant hub or matchbox houses, you see what you choose to see when you visit their recently refurbished stadium.

There are more glamorous ways of looking at it. In Italian, Orlando means “fair land” (in English, Roland), Shakespeare named one of his “As You Like It” characters the Italian way; the city in Florida also has its buccaneers and by coincidence Hollywood even made Orlando Bloom one of their Pirates of the Caribbean.

But it's not really about the name. It’s the club and those bitter but beautiful Bucca Bucca fans of the modern post-World Cup era which must be addressed here.

Under “Dr” Khoza, the black-and-white half of Soweto is both self-destructive and bounce-backable: when they won their first treble under Dutch legend Ruud Krol in 2011 instead of celebrating a true resurgency they chose to sack the boss and draft in Julio Cesar Leal, because his brother was involved with the Brazilians running  Bafana Bafana at the time.

Incredibly, with Peruvian youth coach Augusto Palacios taking over from Leal in March, 2012, they went on to win a second successive treble the very next season, despite huge upheaval, mainly thanks to the controversial return to South Africa of record-breaking striker Benni McCarthy, who had been thrown out of Premier League club West Ham for being overweight.

Winners of the South African championship NINE times (NPSL 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976, NSL 1994; PSL 2001, 2003, 2011, 2012), Palacios only lasted six months despite his triumphs, with Roger de Sa – thrown out by Wits and in a dreadful state personally – the shock replacement.

But De Sa also defied the odds despite the mysterious departure of McCarthy, who forgot to tell the chairman he was leaving. #rogerthat took the club to the African Champions League final and after leading the initial recovery from relegation he headed south to Ajax Cape Town, where he has achieved minor miracles this season with a bunch of kids.

A picture tells a thousand words: Vermecovic

Incredibly, Dr Khoza ignored all precedent again when he named De Sa’s replacement in February this year: unemployed Serbian Vladimir Vermecovic, sacked by arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs in 2012, was signed up and we waited for his work permit with some trepidation as caretaker Tinkler kept the ship afloat.

Under VV, a harsh, unforgiving coach, Pirates have continued the incredible cup exploits they began under De Sa. They have reached the final of the last FIVE knock-out competitions entered, winning the Nedbank Cup at the end of last season but losing the MTN8 at the last hurdle this term. Despite my best efforts I have NEVER heard of a club ANYWHERE reaching FIVE successive cup finals.

Despite huge criticism, VV took the side to second in the PSL before last week’s unfortunate defeat against Clive Barker’s Mpumalanga Black Aces. After his hard-fought 2-1 win, the delightful Barker, a sprightly 70, could be heard post-match saying to VV: "You're still a young man. You'll go all the way." Vlad appeared far more concerned about going away altogether.

Anybody would think the Buccaneers were heading for the relegation trap-door the way the fans reacted. #VVout was trending on twitter. His stubborn failure to select Kermit Erasmus and Lehlohonolo Majoro together in his starting line-up has proved hugely unpopular. Even the unbeatable Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa in goal took more flak than President Zuma threatening to build a second homestead.

Incredible stuff. Your side are SECOND in the league. They’ve reached FIVE consecutive cup finals. And the entire side were lambasted over a single result. Nobody escape the wave of ire from the Bucca Bucca fans. There were even threats to lynch VV and a constant stream of tweets purporting to herald his return to Belgrade.

But it’s not suprising. A quick review of Dr Khoza’s decisions explain all. Krol, Leal, Palacios, De Sa, caretaker Eric Tinkler and VV were all strange decisions. Huge risks. And we all know about the “sinister” selection process with Floyd Mbele and Screamer Tshabalala pulling the strings behind the scenes while the coach pulls his hair out.

Good youngsters leave, uncontracted veterans stay; Majoro’s arrival, having signed for SuperSport United, went uninvestigated while Tlou Segolela is scoring for the reserves despite a big salary, Lennox Bacela has been forgotten and the back-four failures are now compounded by Rooi Mahamutsa’s apparent fall from grace.

Anybody remember how Andile Jali left for Belgium? When the club put out a message saying he’d gone AWOL? Like I said, I’ve never known a club like Orlando Pirates.

The problem is, Pirates are run by the same man who runs the PSL and – until Danny Jordaan’s election as President – the South African Football Association. There is a perception Pirates can do as they like. Repeated fan problems are brushed under the carpet. Dr Khoza, who apparently now has a blood link to Bobby Motaung at Chiefs (as well as President Zuma), simply keeps the big sponsors backing the Soweto giants.

Khoza knows he can appoint who he wants to run the club, all will be fine. His son Nkosana, destined to take over a club that changed hands under strange circumstances in the early 1990s; is waiting in the wings as his father’s business empire grows in to other sectors and far-flung northern nations.

Let VV do as he wishes. If the noise gets too loud, he’ll find another coach. Dr Khoza is a gambler, a big wheel. Vodacom, Carling and ABSA aren’t really interested in who wins what, only the grand Soweto giants count.

As one of their former coaches (we dare not name him) told me: “Every coach Pirates appoint would resign after a month if it wasn’t for the fact the club is run by Dr Khoza. Orlando Pirates is the hottest hot seat you’ll ever sit in.”

It won’t change. Any critique of Dr Khoza is met with fury and even death threats on the social networks. Pirates might surge to the championship or slip down in to the doldrums under VV. It’s hard to tell given his unforgiving, tactically cautious approach which has seen the excellent Oupa Manyisa reduced to a shadow of his foraging self.

Either way, Orlando Pirates will be fine. The money will come pouring in. Whether the fans like it or not. They haven’t mattered for quite a while. And they haven't turned up in numbers for a some time.

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS: The BBC's take on Dr Irvin Khoza:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/4085683.stm and http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/2188671.stm

A shorter version of this story will appear as my Neal and Pray column in www.thenewage.com. 

TWO SHOCKERS FOR SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL: VV installed by Orlando Pirates, Khune signs for Rooney agent Stretford

Tough choice: Vermezovic

Two shocking South African football stories broke this morning: first South Africa's top goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune announced he had signed for English agent Paul Stretford's Triple S Group, then Orlando Pirates said they'd appointed former Kaizer Chiefs boss Vladimir Vladimir Vermezović on a three-year deal to replace Roger de Sa.

Stunned isn't quite the word. Both stories are remarkable.

Here's the tweet from @iikhune_32_16 yesterday: "@dhl10 @WayneRooney @Kennethshep2 @MrGunny1963 Good to be part of the #TripleS family!"

Stretford’s Triple S Sports and Entertainment Group was formed after he left his previous agency Proactive over "huge and irreconcilable differences" involving FA misconduct charges and huge amounts of money surrounding Wayne Rooney’s transfer from Everton to Manchester United.

Stretford runs the agency with controversial former Newcastle United chairman Freddie Shepherd and his son Robert. Having left South African agent Jazzman Mahlakgane and spent six months with local agency MSC Sport, Khune is clearly at his wits' end when it comes to that big overseas move.

Sir Alex Ferguson once said: Stretford “was not the most popular man in the world – certainly at our club" when he tried to lure Rooney away from Old Trafford in October 2010.

Perhaps spurred by Andile Jali’s move to Belgium’s KV Oostende, Khune has clearly decided his only hope of playing in Europe is to sign for Stretford and his merry men. Best of luck with that, Itu. Stretford certainly fights hard for what he wants.

Even more shocking was THIS (complete with spelling mistakes, it’s Vermezović not Vermezonic) on the official Orlando Pirates website:

Orlando Pirates is pleased to announce the appointment of Vladimir Vermezonic as Head Coach.

VV has sgned a three year contract with the Club and is expected to start as soon as he gets his work permit. 

‘’I have unfinished business in South Africa. Orlando Pirates, a giant in African football, is offering me an opportunity to fulfil a dream of a lifetime. I am grateful for the opportunity” said Vladimir Vermezonic.

“I have had to study Orlando Pirates very closely from the other side. I am therefore not coming into an unknown environment. It should help because I know the supporters expect me to hit the deck running” added Vladimir Vermezonic.

“VV is not new to the South African condition. His hunger and discipline is impressive.” Dr Khoza, Orlando Pirates Football Chairman commented.

“In football, we are in the business of creating memories, history and leaving behind legacies that inspire generations to come. Coaches have become as much a part of this phenomenon as players. I wish VV a memorable and noteworthy career at Orlando Pirates Football Club” added Dr Khoza.

The Orlando Pirates Chairman, Dr Irivin Khoza, heaped praise and gratitude to the club’s assistant coach Eric Tinkler, who stepped in as caretaker coach when Roger De Sa resigned unexpectedly.

He said, “Eric is a ‘can do’ man that would rather fail doing rather than provide excuses. His work ethic is commendable. His commitment and hard work is not going unnoticed, I am confirming that Eric will continue in his role as assistant coach of Orlando Pirates Football Club”, concluded Dr Khoza.

Quite how the notorious VV, who left at least three Kaizer Chiefs stars in floods of tears during his largely unsuccessful time at Naturena from 2009-12 (a period during which arch-rivals Pirates won TWO TREBLES, he won the Telkom KO in 2009 and 2010) is supposed to solve the Buccaneers’ problems I’m not sure.

The 50-year-old Serbian is certainly renowned as a tough guy. With Stanley “Screamer” Shabalala and Floyd Mbele pulling the strings at a club which is imbued with what veteran captain Lucky Lekgwathi calls “sinister forces”, it’s going to be extremely tough.

VV returned to Partizan Belgrade when he left Chiefs in 2012 and after taking them to the top of the table he suffered a slump and was sacked in April 2013.

Just last week Dr Irvin Khoza was telling us the appointment of a new coach to succeed Roger de Sa was “not a priority”. My thought was that VV was a rushed appointment as Tinkler was about to decamp to Ajax Cape Town with his old mentor De Sa.

But De Sa is no closer to moving 1000km south and Tinkler has been assured he will stay on as VV’s number two. Very strange.

But hey. No room for more defamation suits. Best of luck Itu and VV. I think you may both need it!


BREAKING: here's the Bafana squad to play Brazil on March 5, Khune understudy is SuperSport United's Ronwen Williams, Thabo Nthethe remains in place after his move from Bloemfontein Celtic to Mamelodi Sundowns but no sign of Tower Mathoho or Tefu MashaMIGHTY, Bournemouth's Tokelo Rantie gets the call up front:

Goalkeepers: Khune, Williams
Defenders: Nthethe, Khumalo, Mkhwanazi, Xulu, Ngcongca, Mokeke, Matlaba
Midfielders: Furman, Dikgacoi, Tshabalala, Claasen, Serero, Jali, Manyisa, Patosi, Mbatha, Zungu, Kekana
Strikers: Parker, Rantie, Ndlovu


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