Cape Town — Hanover Park FC owner Rieduwaan Anthony admits he is torn between the opportunity to make a quick buck and his commitment to the impoverished community from which the club originates.

Anthony was last week offered a staggering R8-million to sell his football club to a consortium headed by former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson.

Hanover Park recently won promotion to the Mvela First Division, the league one level below the elite Premier League.

"I met with Sven Goran Eriksson, his brother and another guy at a restaurant in Cape Town last week," said Anthony. "They made the offer and said they wanted to relocate the club to Richards Bay.

"Essentially, I think their vision is to buy a club to use as a development academy for promising young players, and then feed the kids to the rich European leagues. I also advised them that there could be certain difficulties around foreign ownership of South African clubs, as Ajax Cape Town had to fulfil stringent requirements before Ajax Amsterdam were allowed to invest in the Cape team.

"I told Sven that my initial response was 'no', but I have to admit that the offer is very tempting indeed.

"As things stand, the door is still open to them... but the door will close if certain requirements aren't met."

Anthony was not prepared to divulge what those "requirements" were.

He did, though, explain why he did not immediately jump to "grab the money and run".

"I've been involved in the development of football all my life," said Anthony.

"Before making such a decision, I would need to meet with community leaders and search my soul deeply.

"The football club of Hanover Park has become the pride and joy of a community that has been forgotten by the rest of Cape Town.

"For the past few seasons, supporters have travelled all over to watch Hanover Park in action.

"The club is deeply involved in the game at grassroots level... with the objective to get the kids away from the lure of gangsterism and drugs and get them involved in football.

"The idea is to instil discipline and pride into youngsters, getting them to follow sporting role models rather than those who lead them astray. This has always been my mission, almost my calling, for most of my life," added Anthony, who grew up in Skepe Plein in Factreton, another downtrodden Cape Town township.

"The money that has been offered could change my life completely. But I don't want to rush into a decision... the club Hanover Park is about a lot more than just money.

"There will be more discussion around this issue over the next few days, and anything could still happen.

"Last season, First Division clubs were getting a grant of R45,000 a month; this season it will be increased to R120,000... and that is another reason for my reluctance."

Anthony is also involved in the ownership of two other clubs in the Mother City - Steenberg FC in the regional Second Division and Premier United in the regional Third Division.