LISTEN | 'Introducing Financial Fair Play in PSL will collapse local football'
Expert says Europe is dumping the spend limiting model for clubs
Image: Dirk Kotze
Sports finance and sponsorship expert Nqobile Ndlovu from Cash N Sport believes the wanted introduction of Financial Fair Play (FFP) in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) would collapse the football pyramid in the country.
Last year former Bafana Bafana international Brian Baloyi advocated for FFP to come into place in the PSL, saying that Mamelodi Sundowns' dominance won't stop unless the regulation is brought in.
This week Baloyi's former teammate at Kaizer Chiefs Jabu Mahlangu in a video shared via his social media said FFP has to be introduced because Sundowns are hoarding players and making the DStv Premiership a boring league.
The concept of FFP was developed by Uefa with the aim to stop clubs from spending more than they earn in revenues. It also aims to prevent clubs from getting into financial distress and encourages them to sustain themselves from club activities (sponsorship, gate takings, shirt sales, player sales, league and cup earnings) and not be dependent on the owners.
“The moment we look at cost containment as a method to even the playing field, we are in for a world of hurt in SA football that we are not prepared for. In my opinion, if we brought in Financial Fair Play tomorrow; the football pyramid would collapse in this country,” Ndlovu told MSW host Robert Marawa.
“Financial Fair Play is one of many cost containment models, it’s not the only one and it’s being phased out in Europe, it’s being replaced in Europe. It’s essentially stopping clubs from spending more money than they can generate from club activities, and without having to inflate the revenues of the club or make them look higher than they are by using owner's money
“Financial Fair Play is not fair, there’s no fairness in Financial Fair Play, the rich teams that can attract sponsors will always have more revenue than the teams who can’t. The smaller teams wouldn’t be able to attract sponsors, so they wouldn’t have the same revenue and there would be bigger and bigger gaps,” explained Ndlovu.
The deteriorating standard of the Premiership has also been questioned, with many suggesting that Downs, who are chasing the sixth league title in a row, sign players by offering huge sums money far more than other clubs can keep up with.
Ndlovu said that's not a problem as it is the player's choice as they look at the package and benefits of winning titles and playing continental football.