This was confirmed at a media brief at PSL offices, were both the billion-run-football administration and Safpu members attended the signing ceremony (bargaining agreement).
For the union run by former player himself and Safpu president Thulaganyo Gaoshubelwe, this will tackle amongst others the scourge of rogue agents, contracts and players interest.
“We have maintained that players are being overcharged for things like contract negotiations. Some agents charge 20 percent for that for signings on-fee,” says Gaoshubelwe.
“It can’t be that agents make money from players and none of that money goes back into football. We need a structure within the union that looks at the interest of the players.
“It cannot be that a player only sees an agent when it’s time to negotiate.”
After years of being engaging with PSL on this matter, at times one wondered if talks would see the light at the end of the day, and yes after 20 years it has borne fruition.
For the union this means they will now engage with players directly twice a year, to iron out contracts, signing on fees, amongst others.
The Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), standardise player’s contracts and educate players on handling their finances will top the list. In SA, it has become a norm for players to become penniless after hanging up their boots due to poor financial literacy.
PSL chairman Dr Irvin Khoza says too often we have seen players become destitute after their playing days are over and sometimes people tend to blame the clubs about what are they doing to stop this thing from happening,” he said.
“There will also be financial support for Safpu to enable the union to continue to grow its membership and participate in its campaigns aimed at improving levels of knowledge. There must be proper engagement with the league,” says Khoza, following healthy balance sheet reported by PSL of a record revenues of R1bn.
Image (PSL chairman Dr Irvin Khoza, Kaizer Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung, PSL acting chief executive Mato Madlala, SA Football Players’ Union president Thulaganyo Gaoshubelwe and general secretary Nhlanhla Shabalala at the signing ceremony at PSL offices).
