Marumo Gallants chairman Abram Sello has revealed how many millions they spent in the CAF Confederation Cup and gave clarity into the player strike leading up to their semi-final second leg clash against Tanzanian giants Young Africans last week.
Gallants were knocked out of the semi-finals last Wednesday and then had to endure the pain of relegation in the DSTV Premiership a few days later, losing 2-0 to Swallows FC on the final day of the season. The last few months were so busy for the club, juggling domestic and continental football, only for it to end in heartache.
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"It was not easy. You can understand. My home man (Kgoloko Thobejane) used to say football will kill you. You have to be strong. You can't commit suicide because you lost. You have to rebuild and make sure you do like others," Sello said before going into the money they spent playing on the continent.
"I've been financing the club myself and closing the gap where necessary and much more traveling through Africa. Imagine. You do it yourself and get reimbursed later. We spent between R12 and R18 million, because countries differ. Remember an away game is even better than a home game. Because with a home game, you have to finance every official - the referees, match commissioners. You book them hotels, book their travel, you hire Avis cars and all those kinds of things. It's strenuous in terms of financing that, but with the hope that you are building a nation and a career for the boys," Sello said.
A day before the semi-final clash against Young Africans last week, the Gallants players went on a strike and did not train. Players wanted assurance from the chairman that they would get a percentage of the money Gallants are meant to receive for reaching the semi-finals. The players had a letter that they wanted the chairman. It's understood that he signed it on the day of the match.
"Most people misinterpreted this one. The players said let's make an arrangement of when we get to the final, we will do this. Or wherever we stop (in the competition), sign what we may get. We are talking percentages. It disturbs and you can see the impact it had. You are not sure if you lost (genuinely) or it's because of that particular incident. They wanted us to sort it out in writing and we have not received that money yet. But they said 'sign it'. But you respond. A good leader is one who takes both negative and positive and respond accordingly because these are the people you need day to day. They take you from A to B, and you take them from C to D. That's how it works."
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Sello explained why the club had end of season awards for the player, despite getting relegated. The awards were held in Johannesburg last night and Celimpilo Ngema walked away with the player of the season award.
"We appreciate others. You don't look at the negatives and calculate all the failures. We appreciate all that they have done, even the negatives which we can rectify and move on, because we are human. We are not perfect and we have to rebuild. Another thing is that we have to encourage these boys. Whoever goes with us, must not feel rejected. Our hearts are sore, but we have to regroup and fight back like other teams which have done that. Also, we planned it (the awards) a long time before."
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