SuperSport and TUT partner for women's team

SABC Sport has been reliably informed the two parties have agreed in principle to enter into a partnership to jointly manage TUT Ladies FC, which would subsequently be referred to as “TUT Matsatsansa”.

United CEO Stan Matthews previously confirmed to SABC Sport they were negotiating with TUT and JVW FC, both competing in the Hollywoodbets Super League (HBSL).

To comply with the CAF Club Licencing Regulations, which are implemented in the CAF inter-club competitions, Article 27 states the licence applicant must have at least one first women’s team competing in a competition approved by the licensor (SAFA).

And that the licence applicant may operate the women’s team itself or have a written agreement with another entity to operate the team. 

With the deadline to register for CAF's inter-club competitions approaching next week (June 30), SuperSport appear to have done what was necessary and is now just waiting for all parties involved to sign the contract. Matthews was also clear last month about the nature of the talks with TUT, one of the strongest women’s teams in the country, bar their performances this season.

"When I first approached them, they weren't prepared to have "Amatsatsansa" as part of their name, so they weren't on the list because that was part of our criteria. Our criteria were that whichever franchise it is, will add the name Amatsatsansa to its name. So, apparently, they've had a second thought about that," Matthews explained then.

The public broadcaster has learned the partnership between TUT and the Premier Football League (PSL) club will be a broader deal than just women’s football. This would include United continuing to play their PSL matches at the TUT stadium and collaborating on some development programmes for both men's and women’s teams.

TUT had a similar arrangement with Mamelodi Sundowns in the past, mainly in terms of youth teams and academics, but when the Brazilians entered into a partnership with the University of Pretoria (TUKS), that agreement also collapsed.

The good news for the commercial aspect of the women’s game is that a few of SuperSport's sponsors are willing to join forces with the female teams as well. 

TUT are currently 10th on the HBSL log standings with 21 points from 17 matches, which places them 26 points behind log leaders Sundowns Ladies.