SuperSport United sold their prized asset Aubrey Modiba to rivals Mamelodi Sundowns to balance the books after the three-time league champions lost their main sponsor, Engen.
Showmax has also ended its relationship with the club.
When Matsatsantsa-a-Pitori line-up against Kaizer Chiefs in their DStv Premiership game at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday, they won't have a sponsor name on the front of their jersey. Club CEO Stan Matthews told Sowetan yesterday that they have ordered new shirts.
Matthews said they offered Modiba a new salary and an improved contract but Sundowns doubled that and backed them into a corner, leaving them no choice but to sell the player.
“I got big numbers for Aubrey. Sundowns gave him an improved offer and doubled it, and it will change his life for the better. We sold him to balance the books after Engen left us, and now we lost Showmax. It is tough without a sponsor and we will sell other prized assets in the coming season,” said Matthews.
Matthews, who has been with the club for two decades, said the monthly grant from the league is not enough to sustain a franchise.
“There is no gate-taking money due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and it was a source of revenue. You need private funding to run a club successfully. The only way to get it right these days is to get a successful academy that provides players to the first team.”
Matthews said he let veteran defender Clayton Daniels leave because he no longer offered resale value to the club. He hinted that 33-year-old Bongani Khumalo, who was sold for a then club record R15m to Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premiership in 2010, could be next to get released from his contract.
“We are running a business here and we kept Daniels long enough, and should have let go of him two years ago. Take Siyabonga Nhlapo, for example. At 31 he has no resale value, but we have kept him,” he said.
Matthews said the club would not give players over the age of 32 more than a one-year deal. “We are capable of producing our players such as Sipho Mbule and Teboho Mokoena. We got them at the age of 15 years and turned them into national assets.”
Matthews admits high-profile sale won't be the last in near future
Loss of sponsorship revenue forced SuperSport to sell Modiba
SuperSport United sold their prized asset Aubrey Modiba to rivals Mamelodi Sundowns to balance the books after the three-time league champions lost their main sponsor, Engen.
Showmax has also ended its relationship with the club.
When Matsatsantsa-a-Pitori line-up against Kaizer Chiefs in their DStv Premiership game at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday, they won't have a sponsor name on the front of their jersey. Club CEO Stan Matthews told Sowetan yesterday that they have ordered new shirts.
Matthews said they offered Modiba a new salary and an improved contract but Sundowns doubled that and backed them into a corner, leaving them no choice but to sell the player.
“I got big numbers for Aubrey. Sundowns gave him an improved offer and doubled it, and it will change his life for the better. We sold him to balance the books after Engen left us, and now we lost Showmax. It is tough without a sponsor and we will sell other prized assets in the coming season,” said Matthews.
Matthews, who has been with the club for two decades, said the monthly grant from the league is not enough to sustain a franchise.
“There is no gate-taking money due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and it was a source of revenue. You need private funding to run a club successfully. The only way to get it right these days is to get a successful academy that provides players to the first team.”
Matthews said he let veteran defender Clayton Daniels leave because he no longer offered resale value to the club. He hinted that 33-year-old Bongani Khumalo, who was sold for a then club record R15m to Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premiership in 2010, could be next to get released from his contract.
“We are running a business here and we kept Daniels long enough, and should have let go of him two years ago. Take Siyabonga Nhlapo, for example. At 31 he has no resale value, but we have kept him,” he said.
Matthews said the club would not give players over the age of 32 more than a one-year deal. “We are capable of producing our players such as Sipho Mbule and Teboho Mokoena. We got them at the age of 15 years and turned them into national assets.”