PODCAST | 'I was called a sell-out because I was working with Luyt': Sono

Jomo Cosmos owner and South African football great Jomo Sono says clubs in the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) are “scared to talk” about the tough financial conditions existing in the second-tier of professional football.

Sono told Marawa Sports Worldwide he is more comfortable raising the issue after his relegation to the third-tier ABC Motsepe League at the end of the 2021-22 campaign.

He said he also feared raising issues in the MFC (also know as the National First Division, or NFD) when Cosmos competed there.

Sono questioned issues such as the R500,000 monthly grant from the Premier Soccer League (PSL), which does not come close to covering costs of NFD clubs, and that matches in the second-tier are not televised despite SuperSport being PSL’s broadcast partner and headline sponsor of the DStv Premiership.

“I’m not attacking anybody. This is factual — everybody knows about it,” Sono said.

“I don’t want anyone tomorrow saying they are taking Jomo’s car or the receiver is after Jomo, because it happens in football.

“I’m just talking from experience because I’m from there [the NFD]. The guys who are there, it’s not that they are scared to talk. They have a reason they are scared, I don’t know why.

“But me too, I didn’t want to talk when I was there — I was also scared. But now, because I am where I am [in the Motsepe League], I can talk.”

Pressed on why he would have been scared to talk Sono said: “Sometimes you don’t want people to label you as ‘Troublemaker’ [one of Sono's nicknames], because if you recall in the Abdul Bhamjee era I was called a troublemaker and a sell-out because I was working with [former SA Rugby Union supremo] Louis Luyt. But later I was proved right.

“So far SuperSport and them are doing a good job. But my only gripe is ... I don’t know what the grant is now but if it’s the same I can tell you now it’s trouble.

“That is why in the NFD they sell their franchises in the middle.”

Sono said it is not possible for teams in the NFD to sustain themselves financially on the grant paid by the PSL.

“The grant is so small you have to add money every month. Before you kick a ball you have to pay for the ambulance, transport, security, booking the stadium, the pregame meal. Before any game starts you’re spending about R20,000 to R25,000, just on one game.”

Those costs of a single game go above clubs' wage bills and travel and administrative expenses. The financial challenges are added to by the lack of attendances and games not being televised, making it hard to market for sponsorships for clubs.

Sono said of Cosmos competing the third-tier ABC Motsepe League: “But I’m relaxed now. I don’t have to add those overheads of maybe R100,000 a month on top of the grant.”

The PSL has yet to disclose officially if the new Motsepe Foundation sponsorship of the NFD will result in an increase in the grant to the league's clubs.

In a wide-ranging interview Sono also discussed the issue of lower league corruption and alleged cheating and life for Cosmos in the third-tier.

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