Their source was an International Federation of Football History and Statistics, a German-based organisation that considers the history and records of national football associations. The IFFHS bases its rankings on all national championships, cup competitions and inter-continental club competitions to produce its not-so-flawless list of the Club World rankings.
While the idealists celebrated that the IFFHS put the Castle PSL 14 places above the South African league, realists did not ignore the facts that punched many holes in the organisation’s theories. Obviously, a system that puts America’s strong Major Soccer League behind the national leagues from Angola, Botswana, Armenia, and India, should not be trusted.
Those who still based their celebrations on the IFFHS statistics also ignored the fact that the same organisation put the ABSA Premiership (51st) 21 places above the Zimbabwean league on its list of the strongest Leagues of the 21st Century.
To be fair, Zimbabwean clubs have of late done better in continental competitions than their South African counterparts, but that is more attributable to the fact that the business-minded South African clubs have seen it better to cut their losses than chase tournaments with less reward than their domestic competitions.
The winners’ prize for the CAF Champions League translates to less than R9.5 million and put against the high costs of travel and hosting away clubs, the net amount can be less than half that figure – R4.75million.
That could be a fortune for Zimbabwean clubs, but remains peanuts to super-rich South African clubs with mega millions in their bank accounts.
Orlando Pirates, continental league champions in 1995 and semi-finalists in 2007, had taken a back seat in the same competition recently, arguing that the prize money did not make sense. To prove that, clubs like Nigeria’s Enyimba, which have won the prize more than two times, have still not been able to hold on to their players against the power of South African clubs.
Players like Onyekachi Okwonko, who captained Enyimba to one of their continental triumphs, saw it better to be an ABSA Premiership star than be a continental champion again, when he signed for Pirates soon after winning the Champions League.
This has largely been because of the rich pickings in the South African leagues, which have seen their clubs shun continental competitions. It pays R10 million to win the league in South Africa, R4 million to win the Telkom Knockout, R6 million to win the Nedbank and R8 million to bag the MTN8.
In the two seasons that they won a treble, Orlando Pirates raked in a total of R44 million. It would take more than 10 Caf Champions League triumphs to make that money.
Add to that, each SA topflight club gets a minimum of R12 million in PSL grants and several millions from individual sponsors in one season. Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs got a combined R1billion sponsorship from Vodacom for the next five years, added to millions that they get from municipalities for playing some of their games at local authority facilities outside Johannesburg.
To further prove the strength of the South African league, the Soweto Derby, between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, ranks 25th in the world football rivalries, above even the Corinthians versus Santos (Brazil), Liverpool versus Manchester United (England) and the Genoa versus Sampdoria (Italy) showdowns.
The “Battle of Zimbabwe” between Highlanders and Dynamos does not exist in that world, let alone the Harare Derby between DeMbare and Caps United.
Professionalism is also another judging factor and, unlike in Zimbabwe, ABSA Premiership clubs live by the league’s laws, which are also strictly and fairly applied.
In Zimbabwe, Highlanders supporters can stone a Chicken Inn player during a game, Dynamos can refuse to fulfil a league fixture, or worse still, have their bouncers assault both Hwange coaches, inflict grievous bodily harm on them before a match and still go on to play them without a coach and bag the three set of points that make them win the league.
In South Africa, clubs get hauled before the league’s disciplinary committee and fined R30 000 for just a single supporter storming the pitch to celebrate a goal. The list is endless, but from my experience covering both leagues, the ABSA Premiership ranks miles ahead of the Castle Premiership.
Post published in: Football