Cape Town City Chairman John Comitis (pictured) has gone into “lockdown” to strategize a way back to the Premier Soccer League – even citing a possible merger with archrivals Cape Town Spurs – as desperate times call for desperate measures.
“Well, at this stage we are open and it’s something to look at,” Comitis stated to No Bones with Jones when probed on the matter. “But I’m in lockdown at the moment for this week.”
Needless to say, the City boss is still trying to make sense of this catastrophe and getting to grips with their relegation from the PSL after nine seasons in the top-flight.
It must be noted that Comitis is a very astute and a wily old fox in football administration with a fine business acumen hence he should not be written off – just as he has shown in the past when he acquired the PSL-status of Mpumalanga Black Aces to establish CT City in 2016.
Amidst the doom and gloom there’s a sense of anticipation and anxiety from the Cape’s football public to see what ‘Mr JC’ will conjure up.
So, too, are Spurs’ hierarchy – owned by Comitis’ brothers-in-law the Efstathious – fixated on an immediate return to the pro ranks following their relegation from the First Division to the amateur ABC Motsepe League’s Second Division – and the appointment of Roger de Sa as their new Technical Director a couple of days ago suggests just that.
Spurs also recently tried to obtain Pretoria Callies’ First Division status without any luck, while Comitis ‘missed’ out to buy the status of three-time champion SuperSport United who was bought over by Siwelele FC and is relocating to Bloemfontein. The newly promoted Orbit College is also a possible option.
According to Comitis, who is now at a crossroads, the situation is very sensitive, and it needs to be handled in that manner.
“One has to show the necessary respect to our staff and players, you know,” Comitis further added. “If you are going to run it, at least run it respectfully, don’t just put a team out there, you know, but otherwise it’s gonna cost R20M to R30 million to run this thing out of your pocket.
“It’s a daunting way of looking at it and the way forward. So, it’s definitely difficult for us to navigate through this and we’re just hoping that we come out with solutions that are best and we’re working around the clock to achieve it,” Comitis concluded.
A marriage between Cape Town City and Cape Town Spurs would without any doubt be a game-changer in Cape Town football.
