MIHLALI BALEKA
Safa and CAF continue to do their part in aiding the professionalism of the PSL and Hollywoodbets Super League clubs after bringing the Club Licensing Online Platform (CLOP) to South Africa.
The implementation of the club licensing regulations helps to professionalise clubs and leagues, says CAF head of professional football Muhammad Sidat.
Sidat and his team are on a three-day seminar in SA in partnership with Safa, in which they are conducting the CLOP workshop.
This workshop will be used to offer in-depth training sessions on the CLOP to clubs from the PSL and the Hollywoodbets Super League.
Representatives from some of the PSL clubs – which includes the top flight and second-tier division – and Super League attended the first training session yesterday at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton.
Teams such as Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch will now use the digital platform for registration of the licence that will allow them to play in their respective CAF inter-club competitions next season.
“Overall, it’s exciting,” Sidat said. “We always say that South African football is one of the leading national competitions on the continent.
“Sometimes we tend to look at club licensing as the sanction tool, but it’s the other way round – it’s there to professionalise and help the club.”
One of the club licensing regulations is the need for a team to have or be associated with a ladies’ team before playing in the Champions League or Confederation Cup.
Sundowns are one of the few teams in the PSL, alongside TS Galaxy, the University of Pretoria, Stellenbosch, and Royal AM that owns a ladies’ team.
Teams such as Pirates, SuperSport United and Sekhukhune United are associated with a ladies’ team.
Safa president Danny Jordaan, who was in attendance in the first training session of the CLOP platform yesterday, explained why they need the clubs to adhere to the regulations of club licensing.
“The strength the men’s club gives to support women’s football immediately raises the professionalisation and on-field performance of a women’s team,” he said.
Meanwhile, Safa is doing its bit to ensure that the club licensing regulations are implemented by skilled coaches as well.
Safa has been working around the clock to skill some of the PSL coaches with either the CAF A or B coaching licence in recent months.
“The coach who is sitting on the bench in the field must know what is happening in front of him,” Jordaan said. “The coach must be qualified.
“This is a matter that was discussed at length in the last joint liaison meeting (with the PSL).
“We cannot have situations where the coach is sitting on the stands when the team is playing a key CAF Champions League match (due to not having qualifications).”
After considering the importance of coaching education, Safa approved the implementation of coaching standards from next season, during a NEC meeting last year.
However, it seems that the coaching standards will not be implemented as early as next season by Safa on the PSL coaches after an agreement between the two entities.
“We can’t now say ‘by the fifth of September they must have the badges or you are unemployed’. Remember, this is their unemployment and they have no other income,” Jordaan said.