Springboks for sale, England eye Pep, players’ strike nears, what happened overnight in sport

The off-field soap opera that is professional football has taken a new twist, while SA Rugby is eyeing US investment in the world champions

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SA Rugby could be about to sell control of the commercial rights in the Springboks to a private equity firms in the US. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:30am, 15 Oct 2024Updated: 7:31am, 15 Oct 2024

The joy of sport is that very often what happens off the field can be just as enthralling as on it, and there are interesting times ahead in the soap operas that are professional football and rugby.

Perennial rivals Fifa and literally everyone else in the game are going back to court, this time over the Club World Cup, which no one, apart from Fifa, wants. It’s quite an achievement to unite fans, leagues and players in one common goal, but the world governing body has never been shy about wrecking football, so at least officials are consistent.

Money of course is the motivating factor, with greed for TV cash knowing no bounds, and maybe the renewed threat of a players’ strike will finally bring some sense to a game that reached saturation levels about the time Uefa decided to destroy its top cup competition in favour of the “anyone can play” Champions League.

Lorin Parys, the chief executive of the Belgian Pro League which is part of the group that has taken action against Fifa, said: “Just when we succeeded, together with the fans and many other allies to keep our front door closed to the threat of the Super League, here comes Fifa through our back door whistling and yelling ‘surprise, we’ve got a present for you guys!’.”

The root of all evil could prove costly for the Springboks too, with SA Rugby (SARU) mulling the sale of 20 per cent of the team’s commercial rights to private equity company Ackerley Sports Group (ASG) for US$75 million. Of course there is always a price to pay, and the deal reportedly gives ASG complete control of the board of a soon-to-be-formed Commercial Rights Company.

Would Pep Guardiola really swap an easy life with Manchester City for managing England? Photo: EPA-EFE

According to the SARU, the company will take charge of “sponsorship, broadcasting, events, branding, and licensing related to the sport”. What could possibly go wrong?