Life of warm gentleman Jermaine Craig celebrated at memorial at FNB

Respected sports journalist and former 2010 Fifa World Cup bid and local organising committee (LOC) communications head Jermaine Craig was remembered as an ‘impeccable gentleman’ who touched many lives.

That was the sentiment expressed during the well-attended memorial service at FNB Stadium on Thursday afternoon where people from different sectors in sport came to remember the prominent sports media personality.

Craig, who wrote the script for the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) global campaign, died aged 47 on Monday morning after he collapsed in the gym. He will be buried in Johannesburg on Saturday.

“The hard work that was done by Jermaine will forever remain in our hearts,” said Rich Mkhonto, who, as LOC chief communications officer, worked closely with Craig during the hosting of World Cup in South Africa.

“We mourn and salute him without seeking glory and status. We have a right to feel cheated by death and nothing could have prepared us for the pain we have suffered.”

In the build-up to and during the 2009 Fifa Confederation Cup and 2010 World Cup Craig was often in the company and the spokesperson for of LOC CEO Danny Jordaan, now president of the South African Football Association.

“When we see the photos here, we see Jermaine as we knew him and these pictures show a person who was full of life,” Jordaan said.

“He had facts, integrity and honesty with the way he dealt with what the English media was writing about South Africa after we got the World Cup.

“He was central in delivering the World Cup. I had many interactions with him during his time as a reporter at The Star while covering the bid for 2010. He became fascinated with this big dream of hosting the World cu in South Africa.”

Head of Strategy at Arena Holdings Lyndon Barends used football analogy to describe Craig as a “holding midfielder”, the hard-grafting position requiring dependable players in a the middle of the park for a football team.

“I had the privilege of knowing Jermaine for many years during the early years. Later on in life we befriended each other and he was a good and hard-working man.

“In a team, he would have been a holding midfielder because of his calmness and he always wanted to play the man and not the ball. As a holding midfielder he would know when to distribute the ball.

“The other thing about him is that as a holding midfielder he didn’t lack creativity.

Former colleague and fellow senior football writer at The Star Jonty Mark, now sports editor of the Citizen's Phakaaathi website and supplement, said Craig was a welcoming personality in the newsroom.

“When I started as a football journalist about 24 years ago, he was the first journalist I met at Sauer Street [the headquarters of Independent Newspapers and The Star],” Mark said.

“He always made you feel at home because he was such a warm person and he will remain like that in my heart.”

Craig worked for The Star newspaper for many years as a senior sports reporter during a journalism career in which he won numerous awards and later served in an editorial capacity.

When he left journalism, Craig worked for the 2009 Confed Cup and 2010 World Cup LOCs in various roles in media, including as head of communications.

At the time of his death Craig was a media officer for the Confederation of African Football (Caf), where he worked at Mamelodi Sundowns matches and was a consultant for a number of companies.

Apart from working for The Star, Craig was a former editor of The Argus and GM of sport for the Independent Newspapers group.

As MD at his agency, Craig Communications, the former journalist also worked as a consultant to teams, companies and entities including Kaizer Chiefs, NBA Africa, 4Racing, the African Football League and Arena Holdings.