PSL Challenged, As Shaka Easter Tournament Rolls Out VAR

Photo by Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images

The Shaka Easter tournament is set to break new ground, with the introduction of VAR and a R1 million prize for the senior men soccer team, as Soccer Laduma sits down with their Head of Marketing and Commercials Tommy Makhobela.

SL: What can we look forward to in this sixth edition of the tournament?

Makhobela: So much hey, a lot of people are asking me about the R1 million grand prize for the seniors, we’ve added another division this year, making it six divisions. So we have U13s, U15s, U17s, it’s top 16, they are all playing for R100 000 to win.

We have female open age top 16, all these divisions are playing for R100, 000 each for the winner and R40 000 for the second prize, R20 000 for the third prize.

For the men’s open age seniors, it’s a top 64, we topped in from top 32 last year. Last year we were paying R500 000, this year we’re paying R1 million rands (to the winner). Second place gets R400, 000, 3rd prize gets R200, 000, 4th gets R50, 000 and from number 5 to 8th, they get R20 000.

It’s a first of its kind, we’re using eight stadiums this year for all our games. So all these stadiums are gonna be filled from the 7th of March all the way until the 3rd of April and 4th and 5th we’re at Giant Stadium for the finals.

SL: We’re hearing there’s going to be VAR in the tournament…

TM: 100 percent, yes, there’s gonna be VAR, first ever (in SA), PSL has not done it, we’re doing it. Because we want fairness, we have 144 teams in the tournament, all provinces are represented, also there’s teams coming from Nigeria, Cameroon, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, to play for the R1 million rand.

We’ll have a tech company that’s doing live broadcasting, they have the tools. All you need for VAR is cameras in different areas and a monitor you can use for playback, that’s all you need.

What we’ve done also is we’re using all female referees on our games and it’s a first of its kind. They’re very good, you can even give them a Soweto derby.

SL: Tell us more about the involvement of the masters.

TM: Last year Katlego Mashego’s team won, against the likes of Tiyani Mabunda’s team (in the final), ‘Mahoota’ was the top goal-scorer last year, I think he scored six goals, it was amazing to see, I think they’re playing again this year. We had so many ex pros playing, the likes of Lucky Lekgwathi, Happy Jele, (Reneilwe) Letsholonyane, we have different big names coming to play. The winner’s prize is R100, 000.

SL: Is there going to be any TV broadcast for these games?

TM: We might have the final on SABC, which would be amazing, we’re still having a conversation with SABC but it’s 90 percent done.

SL: Anything you’d like to add…

TM: We have Amapiano vs Hip Hop coming to play a curtain raiser for the finals, the likes of Scotts Maphuma, Big Zulu, to entertain. I’d like to give a shoutout to our partners Gauteng Province, City of Tshwane, Shaka Sports, Letjane Group, owned by the founder of the tournament, Big Save, aQuelle, Lotto Sport and Betway, thanks.