“We don’t want to be a bunch of losers,” the chairman of the Premiere Soccer League (PSL), Irvin Khoza, said during a live broadcast on SuperSport on Tuesday, 12 August 2014, addressing Minister of Sports and Recreation, Fikile Mbalula.
It is for this reason the PSL has partnered with MultiChoice to launch a programme to develop soccer and sports broadcasting in South Africa, Khoza said.
In a press statement accompanying the announcement, MultiChoice said the initiative will be called the “MultiChoice Diski Challenge”, and includes:
- a football competition for the Premier Soccer League (PSL) academy clubs
- life skills and leadership development for players
- an internship programme to develop broadcasting skills among South African youths
- scholarships for players and production interns
- a chance for community television channels on DStv to broadcast the MultiChoice Diski Challenge matches
The MultiChoice Diski Challenge tournament will kick off with a festival weekend in KwaZulu-Natal in September 2014, and will run to March 2015.
The winning team will receive a floating trophy and a trip to Holland for a four-day training camp with the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) and their top youth coaches, as well as a match against a top Dutch team. The team will also play two friendly games in Germany against two top Bundesliga teams.
SuperSport will broadcast the MultiChoice Diski Challenge matches live, which it says will give up to 43 production interns the chance to get on-the-field experience as the crew for the league.
These interns will produce live games as well as a weekly magazine show under the guidance of experienced SuperSport production staff. Half of the interns will be female, MultiChoice said
As part of the initiative, the games will be offered for broadcast to community television channels, which are already available on the DStv platform.