The buying and selling of Premier Soccer League franchises are very sensitive and topical issues in South African football these days.
TS Galaxy President, Tim Sukazi took his time and provided his perspective on this topic.
“I think basically, the starting point is the question of the person who is willing to buy and the person who is willing to sell. That becomes informed by people and business circumstances on the day. If a company or the club is faced with the potential of being liquidated for whatever reasons and yet they have an asset on their book which is the PSL status, what do you do? You then have to be liquidated and lose everything for nothing or you dispose of a valuable asset,” Sukazi elaborated.
The Rockets acquired the Premier Division status of Highlands Park last season.
“Definitely, you’ll do the latter. Down the line, it goes as far as saving the line, I suppose, in terms of the reputation of the league. The reputational issue comes in with these types of things. If the league is going to have a club that is going to be liquidated in the middle of the season, can you imagine the harm that could make? So to avoid that risk, you will make the decision that favors the circumstances of your business which is in this case the league,” he added.
Galaxy has added a much-needed value to the elite league. The club promoted several young players who went on to represent their national teams.
Ethan Brooks recently won the Cosafa Cup with Bafana Bafana while Macbeth “Killer” Mahlangu was with the South African Under-23 squad at the Olympic Games.
“From that point of view, I’ll give it a tick. I’m not saying that because TS Galaxy is the product of that exercise. I’m saying this for the benefit of the game and business. In the end, the South African league is described with 16 teams. You don’t want a circumstance where after eight or nine games, the league has 15 games because that will cause a mess. There may be controversy in the relegation zone or the championship situation,” Sukazi stated.
The Rockets will open the season with the tussle against Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday at Mbombela Stadium at 5pm.
“What matters the most to me is the value that the new entrance brings to the game. That is quite key. As new entrances come in like any other industry, you want to see them bringing a new dimension and new proposition to football lovers. They need to be of such value. That level of due diligence is done by the powers that be. They have to decide whether the status will be sold or not,” Sukazi explained.
The TS Galaxy brand has also empowered a lot of women in what has been considered the male-dominated space.
“If there’s a value add that will redefine the game or rather take it to the next level, that’s better. I’ll go do that. Those decisions are not to be taken lightly. The decision-makers will need to look at everything holistically.” Sukazi detailed.