Sport on by Mogan Segadavan
I HAVE two grandsons, Milan aged three and Rohan, nine months.
When they grow up (not that I expect to be around then) they will not do stupid things like going to university to become doctors and lawyers.
Instead they will get into sports, either as players or administrators, because that is where the big bucks are.
According to evidence from the Nicholson Commission, Cricket SA CEO, Gerald Majola, pocketed R4.6-million in bonuses (mostly under the table) on top of his R150000 a month salary.
According to his evidence his predecessor, Ali Bacher, did not do too badly either, walking away with a cool R5-million in 2003.
However, while admitting he received the lolly, Bacher denies all of it was a bonus. He says some of it was to top up his retirement fund for serving cricket for two decades.
I spent double that period in the teaching profession and if I had retired with just a fraction of the cash Bacher received I would probably not be writing this column.
On the subject of Bacher, was Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula hinting at something when he said the Nicholson Commission would clear up once and for all who was really running cricket – Indians or Jews?
With CSA struggling to find a sponsor for the recent Aussie tour, who should step up to the plate but Sunfoil, a manufacturer of edible oils, candles, toilet and laundry soaps, margarine and spreads, chocolate, baking and industrial fats.
You guessed right, it is an Indian-owned company started some 40 years ago in Pietermaritzburg.
Back to the cash cow.
Two weeks ago it was widely reported that Mozambican international Elia Pelembe, who plies his trade with Mamelodi Sundowns, had given the club an ultimatum – R500000 a month or he was out. That is more than 30 times a teacher’s salary.
If Sundowns do agree to his demands he will make history as the highest-paid player in the PSL. In any event salaries of R10000 are not unusual in the league at the moment.
And our rugby players are not paupers either with multi-million rand contracts the norm, rather than the exception.
The moral of the story is, if you want your little darlings to earn mega bucks forget about posh schools and universities. Enrol him at a sports academy, or start your own.