Robin Peterson, a former University of Chicago theology student, tackles PSL’s problems

When South Africa’s troubled Premier Soccer League began looking for a new chief executive officer recently, everybody agreed that a higher power was requiredWho knew it would be God?

Yet the appointment of Robin Petersen, an ordained minister who studied theology at the University of Chicago, signaled the PSL’s desperate desire for change. Petersen spent the last two years as general manager of South Africa’s unsuccessful 2006 World Cup bid, and he accepted this new post determined to restore respectability to one of Africa’s most competitive leagues.

“One of my first goals will be to bring back investor confidence,” said Petersen. “At the end of the day, soccer has to be viewed as a business in South Africa, and investors have to feel they are valued partners in this business. We need to give them the respect – and the return – they require.”

But that may be easier said than done. The PSL has been plagued by years of controversy and chaos, ranging from scheduling foul-ups and plummeting attendance to kidnappings and murder. Earlier this year, former CEO Joe Ndhlela was forced out following a gunfight outside his home and charges of financial irregularities, and the PSL is currently embroiled in a police investigation into widespread referee corruption.

Petersen, who was unanimously approved by the PSL’s board of governors, assumed his new post on Oct. 1. But despite the backing of South African soccer heavyweights such as former 2006 CEO Danny Jordaan and Orlando Pirates owner Irvin Khoza, Petersen knows he’s entering treacherous waters. That’s why he’s asked for 100-day grace period in which to learn the job and held dozens of one-on-one interviews with owners, journalists, players, coaches and sponsors in order to understand the issues.

Petersen beat out powerful figures such as Home Affairs director general Albert Mokoena, Independent Electoral authority chief Mandla Mchunu and the former director general of Sports and Recreation, Mthobi Tyamzashe, for the job.

He’s already won the respect of South African soccer officials – ex-federation CEO Raymond Hack lauded his “intelligence, integrity and knowledge” – while the normally ruthless South African media have been among his biggest supporters. Kick-Off magazine called Petersen an “honest, decent, hard-working and efficient man” and said the appointment could be “the most significant decision taken in our football in the last couple of years.” The Star newspaper believes he will “need to call on all his experience, wisdom and tact when he gets down to the business, in his own words, of ‘turning the PSL into a world-class product.'”

American Jim Trecker, a media consultant who worked closely with Petersen on South Africa’s World Cup bid, said the PSL made the right decision.

NO QUICK FIX. Yet Petersen admits there’s no quick fix.

“Some of the press has said I’ll come in and make a clean sweep of things, but that’s just not possible,” he said. “I have a vision and a strategic business plan for restoring investor confidence in the PSL and re-establishing a relationship with our fans. But these things will take time. I’m looking forward to this challenge, but it won’t be easy.”

If the PSL sought to send a message, it couldn’t have made a better choice than Petersen. In addition to his theological background, he spent almost two decades battling apartheid in South Africa, ultimately winding up in detention and living underground. He co-authored a book on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, served as a senior lecturer on ethics at the University of the Western Cape and is considered an expert in social development. What’s more, Petersen is white, a clear signal that the PSL has no desire to be pigeon-holed as a sport of the lower-income blacks – at the expense of sponsorship dollars.

DAUNTING PROBLEMS. Yet the problems facing Petersen and the PSL are daunting. Consider:

Referees: A widespread corruption and bribery scandal continues to make headlines, especially after one key witness was murdered and another wounded. Yet the PSL has been slow to train, manage or support its referees.

Scheduling: It would be hard to imagine a schedule less organized than the PSL’s, where venues are often announced less than 24 hours before kickoff and opponents sometimes fail to show up. The elite Kaizer Chiefs, meanwhile, sat idle for almost month because they had four players with the Olympic team and could not be forced to play without them.

Attendance: Crazy-quilt schedules and a glut of tournaments leave many PSL teams struggling to draw more than a few thousand fans, and a growing disparity between Johannesburg-area teams and the rest of the nation is troubling.

Sponsors: The violence and confusion surrounding the PSL has scared off several major sponsors, including Rothman’s tobacco, which will cease to sponsor the lucrative Rothman’s Cup after this season.

The federation: South Africa’s anemic federation has been so mishandled in recent years that both the PSL and 2006 bid committee did all they could to avoid any joint operations. But with the return of Jordaan – one of Petersen’s closest friends – to the post of federation CEO, look for a thaw in PSL-federation relations.

Then there’s the issue of Petersen’s supporters, most notably Khoza, the so-called “Iron Duke” of South African soccer. Many fear Petersen will be little more than a pawn of Khoza’s and his powerful Orlando Pirates club, but Petersen shakes his head.

“Look, we are all partners in this league – equal partners,” he said. “What good would it do for the Orlando Pirates to get everything at the expense of the other teams? That’s professional suicide, and Irvin Khoza knows it. He’s a businessman. I think he wants what’s best for the PSL, not necessarily what’s best for the Orlando Pirates.”

LATE-COMER. Petersen admits he’s a late-comer to soccer, and only got involved at the national level when Jordaan asked him to conduct an “organizational audit” of the South African federation in 1997. After spending the last two years attempting to convince the world that South Africa was a suitable venue for the 2006 World Cup, Petersen says he believes the sport actually can bridge South Africa’s ongoing racial strife.

“Soccer has always been the people’s game, and never more so than now,” he said. “I see professional soccer as a religion, arousing similar passions, inspiring dreams and visions. And without our fans – fans of all colors – we have nothing. That’s why we have to keep our faith, and why we must succeed.”

by Doug Cress in Johannesburg