Jomo Sono believes that the buying and selling of clubs in South African football is bringing about a lot of confusion to the younger generation, as he went into detail to explain why he'd never buy his way back up to the top.
Cosmos are playing football in the ABC Motsepe League, at an amateur level. You'd think that having been at a professional level so long, Sono would try to buy a status in the PSL, but he would rather sweat blood and tears than fork out millions of rands to play in the Premier Soccer League.
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Having seen how some club bosses have wasted money by buying a status, and later getting relegated, Sono is hellbent on doing it the hard way, no matter how long it takes.
Cosmos were relegated to the third tier of South African football at the end of the 2022/23 season. Down there, where there is hardly any coverage, the battle to get back up is harder than it is in the second tier. With clubs playing in all the nine provinces, there is a battle to finish top of the standings in your region, before going into the play-offs, where two clubs then secure promotion to the second tier - the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
"It's an easy route to buy a second division (Motsepe Foundation Championship) status for R10 million, but have you got guarantees that you will stay? Number two, I believe in myself and I believe in my talent. I believe that I can take this team back without buying any other team," Sono said.
"You can buy a club for R12 million and then get relegated. But it's not only R12 million that you spend. You spend R12 million and then you have to reinforce. you have to buy players to make sure that your R12 million investment is safe. There are a lot of add-ons when you buy a club."
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Over the last few years, well-known clubs such as Bloemfontein Celtic and Bidvest Wits have sold their statuses to clubs that have changed the names and locations of where they play. Sono believes this creates confusion for the younger generation.
"If you look at Spain and England, the names have been there for donkey years, and they don't move from the area where they play. Can you imagine if an Arab were to make Liverpool go play in Saudi Arabia? I think it confuses the younger generation because in every household, you find that the father supporters Chiefs, Pirates or SUndowns. And as the kids grow, they end up supporting those teams. If one of those teams are sold and the name vanishes, these kids will be lost and the history will be gone. They can't talk about one of those teams which has been sold because the history is gone," said Sono.
"I don't think it's right, but money speaks, money decides."
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