Premier Soccer League Chairman Dr. Irvin Khoza together with the league sponsor has emphasised the importance of responsible betting.
On a momentous day in Parktown, at the headquarters of the PSL, Khoza and Betway’s Laurence Michael confirmed the R20-million league winner’s prize, while the rest of the prize money and trophy will be announced in due course.
But they key take from the event that Khoza and the sponsor wished to be driven amidst their R900-million, three-year sponsorship, is the emphasis on responsible gambling, as in the past their relationship with liquor brands in the PSL came under the microscope.
South Africa has a notable issue with alcoholism and more recently betting addictions, but the leader of the league stated, that there’s nothing wrong with liquor or gambling, but rather, people.
“We spoke about SAB at the time, I was controversial when I said there’s nothing wrong with liquor, there’s something wrong with us, we don’t drink to get drunk, you must drink to just enjoy and chill,” Khoza said.
“You want another one and another one, you can’t blame the liquor, the same with gambling, we will share with you and the public in general, whatever you do with betting, don’t chase your losses.”
This comes in the wake of crowd troubles in recent domestic fixtures of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates and a broader scape, of domestic violence in the country.
Laurence echoed the sentiments of the Chairman, suggesting there’s no sense of being tone-deaf to certain issues plaguing South African society.