Michael Bender: “IberCup will change the fabric and face of South African football”
The IberCup, a major international youth football tournament, will be held in Johannesburg from 12-16 December, showcasing South African talent to international clubs and opening up new opportunities for South African footballers.
SuperSport Schools Plus recently chatted with Michael Bender, the CEO of IberCup South Africa, to gain insight into the tournament, which features both boys’ and girls’ categories.
Bender, who is also the CEO of RCD Espanyol de Barcelona SA in Johannesburg, explained that the IberCup is a worldwide initiative. This time it will provide a grand opportunity for South African talent to play against European and South American teams.
“We stage the IberCup in Brazil, in Spain, in Barcelona, in China, in Australia, and it’s taken almost five years to bring it to South Africa,” he said. “Why? Covid didn’t help. But in 2018 we signed an agreement with IberCup International to bring IberCup to South Africa. We felt it was important that our South African talent was given an opportunity against European teams.”
Bender believes South Africans will be able to assess their level and measure their progress against European or Brazilian football. “We always talk about how good we are, but this tournament gives us an opportunity to see how good we are against some of the best academies in the world.”
Bringing the IberCup to South Africa will help cut costs, Bender said. Travelling is too expensive, he explained, working out at around R52 000 per player for trips to Europe. “Now imagine taking an entire squad of 21 players.”
To cut costs while enabling young South Africans to compete on par with European and South American teams, Bender said a deal was signed with the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation in 2019 to bring the IberCup to South Africa. He said Gauteng officials assured him that the endeavour would be supported.
Bender said the IberCup creates unique opportunities for South Africans, who will face teams with internationally recognised names and fans bases in South Africa’s youth division. “Can you imagine one of our boys from a township playing against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Benfica? Is it impossible? Well guess what, it’s going to happen and we are about to make the dreams of young South Africans come true.
“Some of the biggest European and South American franchises will be playing against our boys. Barcelona, Benfica, Palmeiras, River Plate, Manchester City, Newcastle… We are working to bring them for a unique youth football experience in South Africa.”
Bender said local clubs have already shown their interest, with a number having already confirmed their participation in the forthcoming IberCup, including Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns, AmaZulu, Randburg AFC, and Bloemfontein City.
Interest has also been shown by other African nations, including teams from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal.
“It’s a milestone and this has the potential to change the fabric and face of soccer in the youth category forever in South Africa because, if they come here once, it’s going to open up the channel and the gateway for international teams to keep coming here, not just for this tournament, but regularly,” Bender enthused.
Local teams and schools will also benefit from interacting with other coaches, top administrators, and players from different countries, Bender said.
“People need to understand this is the opportunity for every coach, for every school, teacher, for every club, every player, to look at what systems they’re employing to improve the player, not just with talent, but psychologically, conditionally and technically. We sometimes forget that these are the most important aspects of development.”
Adding further value to the initiative, Bender said IberCup South Africa will launch a club database with an app for global community interaction at the IberCup to empower local coaches with long-term tools.
“I’m going to give you an exclusive that nobody’s got yet,” he told SuperSport Schools Plus. “Based on the fact that we have so many clubs registering with us, we have realised we have a service to give these clubs. We’re creating a database, and we are hoping that after the IberCup, obviously, in January next year, every club on our database will be given a link to an app.
“They will be able to get and transfer information and be part of a global South African community where they can ask questions.
“We decided this only a couple of days ago, but this is, to me, the biggest and most important thing. We will have our tournament every year for the next five years. We will make sure we bring international teams, but we want our local coaches to start saying, ‘Wow, I have something more. When I leave the IberCup, I leave it with an app on my phone that I can use in the future’.”
