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PSL's bid to unearth the next Kaizer Motaung

Programme aims to equip players for life after football

Athenkosi Tsotsi Sports Reporter
PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza speaking during the launch of the PSL Player Transition Programme at GIBS Business School in Illovo, Johannesburg, yesterday. The programme is meant to empower footballers to work in football later.
PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza speaking during the launch of the PSL Player Transition Programme at GIBS Business School in Illovo, Johannesburg, yesterday. The programme is meant to empower footballers to work in football later.
Image: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Premier Soccer League chairman Irvin Khoza says he hopes the new PSL Player Transition Programme, which aims at equipping players for life after football, will help unearth another footballer-turned-administrator in the class of Kaizer Motaung.

Khoza officially launched the programme alongside MultiChoice and the Gordan Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in Johannesburg yesterday. The 2022 edition of the programme runs from now until August.

Some players from the 16 DStv Premiership clubs, including Ronwen Williams, Khama Billiat, Itumeleng Khune and Vincent Pule have been roped into the programme's first batch of attendees at GIBS. 

The purpose of the programme is to help players to participate in the economy after they have retired, be it in football or another capacity.

Khoza challenged the players to look into football administration, urging them to get involved in Local Football Association structures.

He used the founder of Kaizer Chiefs, Motaung, as an example of a former player who made the transition from player to administrator. "I want to talk about Kaizer, him transitioning from being a player to an administrator," said Khoza.

"It took him about four to five years; you can't be a player now and then transition to an administrator. The gap is too big, there's so much to learn, to understand and do. 

"Fortunately, there were people in front of him [Motaung] that were experienced, he was learning from those people. He equipped himself to be ready. He has done a fantastic job," Khoza said. 

The PSL boss went on to explain why the organisation wants to keep the players in their system, saying they want to use their experience and knowledge in the football industry. 

"The course came about as a reflection on our side, that we don't get enough cycling of people with experience in the industry. When they finish they get lost in the conveyor belt," said Khoza. "Instead of that, let's try to keep them by offering courses which might energise them to play a role in the industry.

"People that have been part of the cycle must come back and be part of the administration of the industry; well-equipped to make a contribution," he said. 

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