Coronavirus pandemic hits SA clubs, players and agents hard

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas caused a bit of a stir on Tuesday when he said that his Barcelona counterpart Josep Maria Bartomeu told him the Catalan giants could not afford Memphis Depay.

The transfer fee is believed to be around 25 million euros (over R481 million) and for a big club like Barcelona, that is peanuts, but the tough economic times caused by the coronavirus have hit even big clubs like Barca.

South African clubs have not been spared from the coronavirus crisis impact as clubs are struggling to sign big name players – except for Mamelodi Sundowns, who won the treble and made R30 million in the process.

Player agents have also been hit hard by the crisis caused by the coronavirus as they struggle to get good offers for their players.

Phakaaathi spoke to a couple of agents to find out how their businesses are doing in these tough economic times.

Agent Mike Ngobeni believes it will take about three years for the economy of football to recover.

“The suspension of the league dealt a heavy blow to everyone in football. You find a player that was worth a certain amount of money before the suspension now being sold for almost 20 or 30 percent less,” said Ngobeni.

“A lot of agents that I speak to now are doing a lot of free deals where they don’t get a commission from a player finding a new club. Most players have reached the end of their contracts with clubs and because they are looking for new deals, they will take what they are offered at the new club, which means the value of the player has dropped because he is taking what the new club can afford and not what he would have gotten if everything was normal. Then the player is valued less than what he is worth.

“Another thing that has affected the market is not knowing when football will resume; there is no appetite for football at the moment, which then has clubs just holding out on buying new players because you get a player and you have to pay him, but there is nothing happening on the field. Other clubs won’t buy because at the moment they don’t even know who the new PSL sponsors will be, and if the grants will increase or decrease, meaning they are not sure about their incomes for next season. How do you spend money on buying players when you don’t know how much you are making and if you can afford the wage bill?”

Ratshibvumo Mulovhedzi of Rush Hour Sports Management agrees with Ngobeni.

“This lockdown has not only decreased the players’ values; it has also made it difficult for us as agents to negotiate good salaries for our clients. It has come to a situation where teams ask us to take the offer or leave it. Prior to the lockdown there were teams that wanted to sign my players on pre-contracts, but those talks were put on hold when the president announced that the country was going into lockdown. Club owners don’t like to negotiate contracts over the phone; they want to negotiate with them face-to-face because they are confidential talks, but the lockdown rules made that impossible. This pandemic has really hit all of us hard … agents, players and even clubs.

“I was supposed to take Joseph Mhlongo to Highlands Park, for instance, and everything was agreed on, but now the club has been sold to Tim Sukazi and now I have to try and convince the new owners to take him. Club owners are selling their clubs’ statuses because they are unable to run them under these tough economic conditions, so yeah, it’s been tough for everyone in the soccer industry.”

Siya Mareke of Yoboy Player Management said: “In my view the coronavirus lockdown did decrease the value of the players because at the moment you can’t really get what the player is worth with any team you’re going to engage with. First things first, they will tell you, ‘look, we were all affected by the lockdown in terms of the business and our revenue was affected heavily’. Now, as a player’s representative you find yourself in a situation where you have to settle for less. And remember, these guys are not only talking to you.”

“We only have 16 teams in the Absa Premiership and plenty of players. Some clubs got relegated, some players’ contracts have come to an end. So, you need to consider the fact that you’re privileged enough to have been given the opportunity (to negotiate). If the offer has been tabled and even if you know that your player is worth more than that but because it’s just against the world you might just decide to settle for less.”

Mareke, however, believes these tough economic times could be beneficial for the youngsters who are coming up and don’t really demand a lot of money compared to their experienced counterparts.

“But on the positive side, the youngsters that are not demanding so much when they come to a big league might benefit because an experienced player will say, ‘this is not enough (money)’. But a youngster who plays in the same position and can do the job better or equally well, but had never been given a chance in the past, will take the offer. So, the lockdown has affected the market, we can’t ignore that.”

Prominent agent Glyn Binkin, however, believes these tough economic times have not had a major impact on player values.

“I suppose for the better players the value will always be more and maybe in the lower tiers of football values have decreased,” concluded Binkin.

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