South Africa's PSL comes of age
Craig Urquhart
22 May 2008
Anyone who witnessed the extraordinary events of "Super Sunday" would acknowledge that something is stirring in the soul of South African football.
Like just about everything else created in the post-apartheid era, the Premier Soccer League has experienced a turbulent, roller-coaster existence.
For too long, this country's showpiece championship was in the news for all the wrong reasons; spectator apathy, dilapidated stadiums, mismanagement and sponsorship deals which saw just a handful of wealthy teams sharing the spoils.
Since South Africa was awarded the rights to host the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the country's domestic programme has come under the spotlight.
Thanks to former CEO Trevor Phillips (and his successor Kjetil Siem), the organisation which was once R60-million in debt is now reporting major profits. Last year, the PSL signed a R1.6-billion television contract which took it into the top 15 ranked leagues in the world in terms of commercial broadcast deals.
This has resulted in the monthly grants to top-flight teams soaring and heavyweight sponsors lining up. The players are rising to the occasion and, for the most part, the fans are coming back in droves.
All of this was evident on Sunday, when Supersport United and Ajax (who had left heavyweights like Chiefs and Pirates in their wake) took the title race to the wire.
For the record, Supersport are the 2007/8 champions and our PSL has come of age.
Urquhart is a former Fifa World Cup media officer and the current editor of Project 2010
