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| Making his point: SuperSport United CEO Stan Matthews |
STANLEY MATTHEWS, the SuperSport United CEO, lifted the lid
on the problems agents create in the transfer market last night but insisted: “It
happens all over the world.”
Talking on my football show BOLLOCKZ! on www.ballz.co.za, former PSL CEO Matthews refused
to condemn striker Lehlonolo Majoro for his “u-turn” on joining SSU from Kaizer
Chiefs, arguing “every player has that right”.
Matthews pointed to a 13-year relationship with Lehlonololo
Majoro’s agent Tim Sukazi – and insisted all is well between them despite last
night’s release of a statement revealing Majoro was set to move to Orlando
Pirates (see http://neal-collins.blogspot.com/2014/01/full-text-of-agent-tim-sukazi-statement.html).
Matthews had publicly confirmed Majoro’s move to Tshwane but
was forced to backtrack. But he remains unfazed, saying: “They call the
transfer window the silly season all around the world, not just in South
Africa. Sometimes it can become complex unnecessarily.
“You’re always going to have situations where there’s things
go wrong. The biggest problem for me is sometimes the role of agents in
transfer dealings, they make it more complicated.
“Agents come in and colour the issue, some of them multiple
deal, you think you’re moving in one direction but behind the scenes things are
happening you aren’t aware of. But it does happen around the world, where these
shenanigans happen.
“Last week we had to take it on the chin (when the George
Maluleka swap deal with Majoro fell through) and we did. Hopefully things are
better this week!
“There’s not a lot of good agents in this country. You have
to develop a working relationship with people, like I have with Majoro’s agent,
Tim Sukazi.
“We’ve been working together 13 years, he’s never ever told
me something that didn’t happen or confirmed something that was wrong. I took
his word on it – that’s what happens.
“Sometimes the player has to stand up and take
responsibility. But in the end, it isn’t the agent who signs the contract, it
is the player. The agent is there to represent the will of the player. I’d been
informed on one story the whole way through with Majoro, but at the last minute
that changed.
“Two things have to happen in a transfer: the two clubs need to agree and the player
needs to agree personal terms. We had the same situation with Manyama (Ajax and
Chiefs had agreed, gone public… but Manyama ended up at SSU) and Majoro. The
player did a u-turn. Players have the right to play where they want to play.
“We withdrew our offer, we’ve moved on quite publicly and to
be quite honest with you, not two days ago, the agent was back asking me if we
would take Majoro on a six month loan.
“But we’ve closed that chapter and by then we were working
on other players. We’re very excited about Dino Ndlovu arriving on loan – and he
is available to play against Orlando Pirates (at the Orlando Stadium tomorrow,
3.30pm).
“We really have nothing else to say on the issue: Good luck
to Majoro wherever he ends up playing. He’s a quality player, he’s got goals in
him.”
With Thato Mokeke – one of the finds of the current CHAN
tournament for Bafana - and Clayton Daniels both signing pre-contracts,
Matthews said: “There was always going to be a reshuffle after Gavin Hunt left.
Cavin Johnson came in, started nicely, slipped back a little bit, but certainly
by next year we’d like to be in a position to win the title.
“If we have a good run, anything is possible this season too
– we are in the top six. Let’s see how it goes against Pirates.”
BOLLOCKZ! my own football show on www.ballz.co.za, airs every Thursday from 9am. See the Ballz channel on www.YouTube.com for our growing collection of interviews with the big names in South African football.
You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.
BOLLOCKZ! is backed by www.topodds.com - have a look at their site for my latest sports betting advice and how we are doing in using @thumperpigeon's R5,000 to make money for the Ballz charity WINGZ OF CHANGE.
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