All Article Properties:
{
"access_control": false,
"status": "publish",
"objectType": "Article",
"id": "2267868",
"signature": "Article:2267868",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-07-10-marumo-gallants-hierarchy-defends-buying-its-way-into-dstv-premiership/",
"shorturl": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2267868",
"slug": "marumo-gallants-hierarchy-defends-buying-its-way-into-dstv-premiership",
"contentType": {
"id": "1",
"name": "Article",
"slug": "article"
},
"views": 0,
"comments": 0,
"preview_limit": null,
"excludedFromGoogleSearchEngine": 0,
"title": "Marumo Gallants hierarchy defends buying its way into DStv Premiership",
"firstPublished": "2024-07-10 22:43:09",
"lastUpdate": "2024-07-10 22:43:11",
"categories": [
{
"id": "30",
"name": "Sport",
"signature": "Category:30",
"slug": "sport",
"typeId": {
"typeId": "1",
"name": "Daily Maverick",
"slug": "",
"includeInIssue": "0",
"shortened_domain": "",
"stylesheetClass": "",
"domain": "staging.dailymaverick.co.za",
"articleUrlPrefix": "",
"access_groups": "[]",
"locale": "",
"preview_limit": null
},
"parentId": null,
"parent": [],
"image": "",
"cover": "",
"logo": "",
"paid": "0",
"objectType": "Category",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/category/sport/",
"cssCode": "",
"template": "default",
"tagline": "",
"link_param": null,
"description": "",
"metaDescription": "",
"order": "0",
"pageId": null,
"articlesCount": null,
"allowComments": "1",
"accessType": "freecount",
"status": "1",
"children": [],
"cached": true
}
],
"content_length": 6570,
"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the things that make sport such an interesting concept is that it mirrors life with all its ups and downs.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sportspeople such as legendary</span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-06-13-roger-federer-reveals-what-winning-really-looks-like-in-inspirational-commencement-speech/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tennis player Roger Feder</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have mastered the art of winning, but also the art of dusting yourself off and swinging again after being knocked down. This makes the taste of victory that much sweeter.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Premier Soccer League (PSL) though this concept of fighting for the sweetness of victory has become blurred.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 16-team league’s format is simple enough. The team that finishes at the summit of the DStv Premiership is crowned champion. The team that finishes last is relegated to the second-tier Motsepe Foundation Championship. The top team in the Championship then replaces the relegated Premiership outfit.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, sometimes a team that finishes a lowly 11th place in the Championship finds itself promoted to the top-tier Premiership.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2267314\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2016631.jpg\" alt=\"Marumo Gallants\" width=\"1792\" height=\"1118\" /> <em>Marumo Gallants president Abram Sello during a DStv Premiership match against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on 8 April 2023. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)</em></p>\r\n<h4><b>For context</b></h4>\r\n<a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-04-11-marumo-gallants-libyan-fiasco-mirrors-incompetence-of-sa-soccer/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marumo Gallants</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the most recent example of this phenomenon, which some followers of soccer have said diminishes the integrity of the game in the country, as well as the prestige and historical significance of it. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gallants, who were formerly based in Limpopo but will be relocating to Bloemfontein for the 2024/25 season, recently replaced Moroka Swallows as a top-flight team. The former was relegated at the end of 2022/23 after finishing at the bottom of the Premiership.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They struggled in the second tier after winning just nine of their 30 matches during the 2023/24 season to finish 11th. That was 21 points behind the promoted Magesi and 11 points ahead of Platinum City, who were relegated to the third tier.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet Gallants – after acquiring the Premiership status of a Swallows side that struggled on and off the field last season – are now back in the top flight of South African soccer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Swallows, which is one of the oldest clubs in South Africa, having been founded almost eight decades ago, were relegated from the Premiership in the 2014/15 season.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2267326\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2221123.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1277\" height=\"1575\" /> <em>Lindokuhle Mtshali of Moroka Swallows and Mxolisi Macuphu of Royal AM during a DStv Premiership match at Dobsonville Stadium on 25 May 2024. (Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next season they plummeted towards the third tier of SA soccer after finishing in the basement of the Championship.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After campaigning in the third tier for a couple of seasons, Swallows could not earn automatic promotion to the second-tier league. Eventually they bought the status of Maccabi to enter the Championship prior to the 2019/20 season. At the end of that campaign they earned promotion to the top flight.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since then it’s been a tough fight for survival for the Soweto club. They finished in the top eight in two of their four top-flight seasons. In the other two they narrowly survived relegation.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During this time the financial strain of running a PSL club loomed large over Swallows and its owner David Mogashoa. This climaxed halfway through 2023/24 when the club failed to honour a couple of fixtures, with the players reportedly on strike due to lack of payment. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2267310\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2214249.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1717\" height=\"1171\" /> <em>Roland Sanou of Moroka Swallows during the DStv Premiership match against Cape Town City at Athlone Stadium on 7 May 2024. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2267309\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2214237.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1187\" height=\"1689\" /> <em>Kwanda Mngonyama of Moroka Swallows controls the ball in a DStv Premiership match against Cape Town City at Athlone Stadium on 7 May 2024. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)</em></p>\r\n<h4><b>Enter Gallants</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the opening that Gallants president Abram Sello and his associates saw. They moved to capitalise on it as they felt they had unfinished business in the Premiership after being relegated in 2023.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even then though, they did not arrive via merit. Bidvest Wits sold its status to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) in 2020. Halfway through the season the TTM hierarchy found itself unable to do the heavy lifting with regards to its financial obligations. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That’s when pharmacist-turned-entrepreneur Sello stepped into the frame, taking over TTM and its debt. At the end of the 2020/21 season, he would change the name of the club to Marumo Gallants.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They had some highlights and lowlights before being relegated. The ups included winning the Nedbank Cup and reaching the last-four in the Caf Confederation Cup. The downs included financial struggles and relegation.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Hence you can see us looking around to say where do we beef up our strength. Remember this is a team. You can’t do it alone,” said Sello responding to a question by Daily Maverick during a press conference held by the club in Sandton on Tuesday. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“You need four legs of a table. You need the supporters, you need support from the governance – which are municipalities at provincial level. You need the finances and you need the infrastructure,” he added. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Those are the things which we have learnt. That when you stabalise those four legs of the table, most probably it will keep us in the league longer. But we can talk the whole day here. If we don’t do well in the field [we are going back down].”</span>\r\n<h4><b>In bad spirit?</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teams that buy statuses of teams have been accused of not keeping the good faith of the game. However, Sello told journalists this is not the case. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Why do we buy the status instead of working hard? It’s a very ugly question and easy to answer. Football has got rules, PSL has got rules, there is no way you are going to cross the bridge without following those laws and rules,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed, AmaZulu bought the status of Thanda Royal Zulu in the Premiership. While Mpumalanga Black Aces relinquished their status to Cape Town City. As did Bidvest Wits (TTM), Highlands Park (TS Galaxy) and Bloemfontein Celtic (Royal AM).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“If the spirit has been killed, many clubs did that,” said Sello. “But it is within the framework of the law in South Africa. They (teams who bought their way up) have never killed any spirit,” Sello stated.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Marumo Gallants will not kill any spirit when what we are doing is within the framework of the PSL and the governance. If what we are doing is stepping on anyone’s toes, we apologise. But what we are not doing [is] anything illegal.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The PSL hierarchy has previously said its hands are tied in this regard. Even though they encourage buyers to maintain the name and legacy of the team they acquire, when the sale has been agreed upon, the onus lies on the new owner to make the final decision. </span><b>DM</b>",
"teaser": "Marumo Gallants hierarchy defends buying its way into DStv Premiership",
"externalUrl": "",
"sponsor": null,
"authors": [
{
"id": "19802",
"name": "Yanga Sibembe",
"image": "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sibembe.jpg",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/author/yanga-sibembe/",
"editorialName": "yanga-sibembe",
"department": "",
"name_latin": ""
}
],
"description": "",
"keywords": [
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "41930",
"name": "Football",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/football/",
"slug": "football",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Football",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "49120",
"name": "sport",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/sport/",
"slug": "sport",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "sport",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "53021",
"name": "soccer",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/soccer/",
"slug": "soccer",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "soccer",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "342390",
"name": "DStv Premiership",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/dstv-premiership/",
"slug": "dstv-premiership",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "DStv Premiership",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "375679",
"name": "Marumo Gallants",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/marumo-gallants/",
"slug": "marumo-gallants",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Marumo Gallants",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "382460",
"name": "Moroka Swallows",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/moroka-swallows/",
"slug": "moroka-swallows",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Moroka Swallows",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "420907",
"name": "Abram Sello",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/abram-sello/",
"slug": "abram-sello",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Abram Sello",
"translations": null
}
}
],
"short_summary": null,
"source": null,
"related": [],
"options": [],
"attachments": [
{
"id": "9974",
"name": " Kwanda Mngonyama of Moroka Swallows during the DStv Premiership match between Cape Town City FC and Moroka Swallows at Athlone Stadium on May 07, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)43",
"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the things that make sport such an interesting concept is that it mirrors life with all its ups and downs.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sportspeople such as legendary</span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-06-13-roger-federer-reveals-what-winning-really-looks-like-in-inspirational-commencement-speech/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tennis player Roger Feder</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have mastered the art of winning, but also the art of dusting yourself off and swinging again after being knocked down. This makes the taste of victory that much sweeter.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Premier Soccer League (PSL) though this concept of fighting for the sweetness of victory has become blurred.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 16-team league’s format is simple enough. The team that finishes at the summit of the DStv Premiership is crowned champion. The team that finishes last is relegated to the second-tier Motsepe Foundation Championship. The top team in the Championship then replaces the relegated Premiership outfit.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, sometimes a team that finishes a lowly 11th place in the Championship finds itself promoted to the top-tier Premiership.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2267314\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1792\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2267314\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2016631.jpg\" alt=\"Marumo Gallants\" width=\"1792\" height=\"1118\" /> <em>Marumo Gallants president Abram Sello during a DStv Premiership match against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on 8 April 2023. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n<h4><b>For context</b></h4>\r\n<a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-04-11-marumo-gallants-libyan-fiasco-mirrors-incompetence-of-sa-soccer/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marumo Gallants</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the most recent example of this phenomenon, which some followers of soccer have said diminishes the integrity of the game in the country, as well as the prestige and historical significance of it. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gallants, who were formerly based in Limpopo but will be relocating to Bloemfontein for the 2024/25 season, recently replaced Moroka Swallows as a top-flight team. The former was relegated at the end of 2022/23 after finishing at the bottom of the Premiership.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They struggled in the second tier after winning just nine of their 30 matches during the 2023/24 season to finish 11th. That was 21 points behind the promoted Magesi and 11 points ahead of Platinum City, who were relegated to the third tier.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet Gallants – after acquiring the Premiership status of a Swallows side that struggled on and off the field last season – are now back in the top flight of South African soccer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Swallows, which is one of the oldest clubs in South Africa, having been founded almost eight decades ago, were relegated from the Premiership in the 2014/15 season.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2267326\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1277\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2267326\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2221123.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1277\" height=\"1575\" /> <em>Lindokuhle Mtshali of Moroka Swallows and Mxolisi Macuphu of Royal AM during a DStv Premiership match at Dobsonville Stadium on 25 May 2024. (Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next season they plummeted towards the third tier of SA soccer after finishing in the basement of the Championship.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After campaigning in the third tier for a couple of seasons, Swallows could not earn automatic promotion to the second-tier league. Eventually they bought the status of Maccabi to enter the Championship prior to the 2019/20 season. At the end of that campaign they earned promotion to the top flight.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since then it’s been a tough fight for survival for the Soweto club. They finished in the top eight in two of their four top-flight seasons. In the other two they narrowly survived relegation.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During this time the financial strain of running a PSL club loomed large over Swallows and its owner David Mogashoa. This climaxed halfway through 2023/24 when the club failed to honour a couple of fixtures, with the players reportedly on strike due to lack of payment. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2267310\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1717\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2267310\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2214249.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1717\" height=\"1171\" /> <em>Roland Sanou of Moroka Swallows during the DStv Premiership match against Cape Town City at Athlone Stadium on 7 May 2024. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2267309\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1187\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2267309\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2214237.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1187\" height=\"1689\" /> <em>Kwanda Mngonyama of Moroka Swallows controls the ball in a DStv Premiership match against Cape Town City at Athlone Stadium on 7 May 2024. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n<h4><b>Enter Gallants</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the opening that Gallants president Abram Sello and his associates saw. They moved to capitalise on it as they felt they had unfinished business in the Premiership after being relegated in 2023.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even then though, they did not arrive via merit. Bidvest Wits sold its status to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) in 2020. Halfway through the season the TTM hierarchy found itself unable to do the heavy lifting with regards to its financial obligations. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That’s when pharmacist-turned-entrepreneur Sello stepped into the frame, taking over TTM and its debt. At the end of the 2020/21 season, he would change the name of the club to Marumo Gallants.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They had some highlights and lowlights before being relegated. The ups included winning the Nedbank Cup and reaching the last-four in the Caf Confederation Cup. The downs included financial struggles and relegation.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Hence you can see us looking around to say where do we beef up our strength. Remember this is a team. You can’t do it alone,” said Sello responding to a question by Daily Maverick during a press conference held by the club in Sandton on Tuesday. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“You need four legs of a table. You need the supporters, you need support from the governance – which are municipalities at provincial level. You need the finances and you need the infrastructure,” he added. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Those are the things which we have learnt. That when you stabalise those four legs of the table, most probably it will keep us in the league longer. But we can talk the whole day here. If we don’t do well in the field [we are going back down].”</span>\r\n<h4><b>In bad spirit?</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teams that buy statuses of teams have been accused of not keeping the good faith of the game. However, Sello told journalists this is not the case. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Why do we buy the status instead of working hard? It’s a very ugly question and easy to answer. Football has got rules, PSL has got rules, there is no way you are going to cross the bridge without following those laws and rules,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed, AmaZulu bought the status of Thanda Royal Zulu in the Premiership. While Mpumalanga Black Aces relinquished their status to Cape Town City. As did Bidvest Wits (TTM), Highlands Park (TS Galaxy) and Bloemfontein Celtic (Royal AM).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“If the spirit has been killed, many clubs did that,” said Sello. “But it is within the framework of the law in South Africa. They (teams who bought their way up) have never killed any spirit,” Sello stated.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Marumo Gallants will not kill any spirit when what we are doing is within the framework of the PSL and the governance. If what we are doing is stepping on anyone’s toes, we apologise. But what we are not doing [is] anything illegal.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The PSL hierarchy has previously said its hands are tied in this regard. Even though they encourage buyers to maintain the name and legacy of the team they acquire, when the sale has been agreed upon, the onus lies on the new owner to make the final decision. </span><b>DM</b>",
"focal": "50% 50%",
"width": 0,
"height": 0,
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg",
"transforms": [
{
"x": "200",
"y": "100",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/Bu0nEuUPE76PldMQ1hUrbliBWR4=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg"
},
{
"x": "450",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/SzHLdIvcKmuDN-38r0wTjVnSbAg=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg"
},
{
"x": "800",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/yonSkascl-4yimA5x99jp-Q2gfU=/800x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg"
},
{
"x": "1200",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/bf0cY2pJyRy_w3fZnZG1kFDBoTk=/1200x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg"
},
{
"x": "1600",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/FYxOR3DybVclohNExMSiOi3oaf8=/1600x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg"
}
],
"url_thumbnail": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/Bu0nEuUPE76PldMQ1hUrbliBWR4=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg",
"url_medium": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/SzHLdIvcKmuDN-38r0wTjVnSbAg=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg",
"url_large": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/yonSkascl-4yimA5x99jp-Q2gfU=/800x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg",
"url_xl": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/bf0cY2pJyRy_w3fZnZG1kFDBoTk=/1200x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg",
"url_xxl": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/FYxOR3DybVclohNExMSiOi3oaf8=/1600x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TL_2219572.jpg",
"type": "image"
}
],
"summary": "Marumo Gallants’ acquisition of Moroka Swallows has been ratified by the Premier Soccer League. That’s all that matters, according to the Gallants hierarchy. ",
"template_type": null,
"dm_custom_section_label": null,
"elements": [],
"seo": {
"search_title": "Marumo Gallants hierarchy defends buying its way into DStv Premiership",
"search_description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the things that make sport such an interesting concept is that it mirrors life with all its ups and downs.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sportspeople",
"social_title": "Marumo Gallants hierarchy defends buying its way into DStv Premiership",
"social_description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the things that make sport such an interesting concept is that it mirrors life with all its ups and downs.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sportspeople",
"social_image": ""
},
"cached": true,
"access_allowed": true
} 
Marumo Gallants president Abram Sello during a DStv Premiership match against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on 8 April 2023. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)
Lindokuhle Mtshali of Moroka Swallows and Mxolisi Macuphu of Royal AM during a DStv Premiership match at Dobsonville Stadium on 25 May 2024. (Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images)
Roland Sanou of Moroka Swallows during the DStv Premiership match against Cape Town City at Athlone Stadium on 7 May 2024. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)
Kwanda Mngonyama of Moroka Swallows controls the ball in a DStv Premiership match against Cape Town City at Athlone Stadium on 7 May 2024. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)