Newly retired Teko Modise assumes office role at Cape Town City
There is much more ahead than coaching, says Comitis
Teko Modise is moving into the back office at Cape Town City for an as yet unspecified role that will try to take advantage of his reputation‚ brand and popularity.
Modise played his last game at the weekend after a sudden retirement announcement and City’s chair, John Comitis, has been explaining what is coming next for the 36-year-old‚ who will be staying at the club.
“What was clear from our discussions with Teko over the last couple of months is that players finish their careers and the only thing people think they can do thereafter is to be a coach.
“And if they don’t succeed at that‚ then they are pretty much in a very difficult financial situation and struggling to maintain the lifestyle they’ve become accustomed to through their sheer brilliance‚” said the club boss.
“To be in a position to go from sheer brilliance to struggling to put food on the table‚ in some instances‚ it’s not surprising that you see some of our boys take the wrong road.
“But Teko made it very clear: ‘I can coach‚ I know the game well enough‚ and I can go and do all the badges and all that‚ but what’s my statement about footballers in this country?
“Is that all we are? Can we not amount to something more than that? Do we not have a place in the infrastructure of football when modern day football requires modern-day thinking? I’m here to serve the game in more ways than just being a coach’.”
Comitis said there were myriad roles Modise could take up at the club.
“Working with young people at the club‚ in the marketing‚ working with our fans. Our football has a lot of shortcomings. We cannot fill stadiums. There’s something wrong. How do we fix this? We need people who understand the game and have the soul of the game in their hearts and want to bring something new and something fresh.
“Teko has made it very clear the areas he wants to be involved and we have worked out some kind of plan. We have a commitment with Teko.”
Comitis said Modise would be as comfortable in the boardroom situation or working with sponsors as he was on the field.
“He can make a massive impact at a club like ours‚ so we are going to pioneer this and we think we’ve made the right decision with Teko‚” he said. “I’m 100% sure we’ll be thanking ourselves for taking a leap of faith yet again.”
Modise is also to be granted a testimonial match by the club. This usually means the club pays the costs of the game but the gate takings go to Modise‚ but it is not yet clear what form his testimonial will take.