Irvin Khoza has hit out against SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt and COO Jose Ferreira’s ‘mindless tirades’ against the Vodacom sponsorship deal. 

The Orlando Pirates boss says he does not know whether to attribute the comments to “ignorance or mischief making”, and has decided to respond publically to these “careless and callous people” because he believes “the courtesy of behind closed doors discussions will encourage the incorrigible to join in this ‘gang- bang’ of mindlessness.”

Vodacom have signed a new five-year sponsorship deal with Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, a deal worth “plus-minus R1-billion,” according to Khoza.

Gavin Hunt and SuperSport chief operations officer Jose Ferreira said yesterday that the deal is detrimental to the health of the PSL.

“I think if South African football has been in trouble for the last 10 years [it is because] of the money pumped into the likes of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. When I hear of a R1-billion sponsorship, I think we are all in serious trouble,” Ferreira says on Businessday.co.za.

“It is getting to a stage where all the other clubs are just there to make up the numbers. Somebody should look into that.”

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Hunt agrees, saying that if his players had not been lured into big money moves over the years, he would have a much more successful club.

“If a players earns R5 here and then he is offered R50 down the road, what can I do?” Hunt said.

“If I had been able to keep all the players we released to these sides over the past five years alone, we would have won the League every year by 20-point margins.”

But now the Iron Duke has hit back on the Pirates website:

“I read with grave concern mindless utterances attributed to the SuperSport United Chief Operating Officer and coach in response to the sponsorship announcement of our nations’ two largest clubs, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, by a key supporter of football in our country, Vodacom.”

Khoza reckons Hunts’ criticisisms are no more than “diversionary tactics” ahead of the Nebank Cup Final against Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.

“I have been observing with sadness how Gavin Hunt, the SuperSport United coach, has in the last few years resorted to mindless tirades aimed at everyone other than himself all in his quest to divert attention from his recent lack of achievement. This is an accomplished coach, who characterised ‘cool’, and never make any of these outbursts when he was on the driving seat winning three Premierships in a row. Mamelodi Sundowns, which SuperSport is facing in the Nedbank Cup final on Saturday, was not spared from Hunt’s tirade. Is this … in case he loses to Sundowns on Saturday?”

The Pirates boss further questions Ferreira and Hunts’ motives, saying he wonders whether “this is Super SportUnited Football Club and Multichoice, their parent company’s official position”. 

“I am responding publicly to this mindless action by people who should know better because the courtesy of behind closed doors discussions will encourage the incorrigible to join in this ‘gang-bang’ of mindlessness,” Khoza continues.

In the rest of his statement, Khoza documents the “hard work” that has been done in the last 15 years to ensure the PSL brand recovers from being “undervalued” on the continent. 

“We have made significant progress in this regard. When we started, 15 years ago, clubs received from the league a grant of a million rands per annum. Today all the clubs in the PSL receive a grand of a million rands a month.”

Khoza continues: “The sacrifice and selflessness of Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs in creating an equitable and competitive league cannot be over emphasised. Distribution of proceeds in the PSL is done the same for each team notwithstanding the size and contribution by Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. 

“In mentioning the players he claims to have lost, Hunt chooses to omit the high prices SuperSport charged. Every time Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs express an interest in players, prices skyrocket. To now decry the sponsorship that Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs command due to their market positions is not only deflationary but create a risk of devaluing football in South Africa once more.”

Read the full statement on Orlandopiratesfc.com