Khoza is chairman and owner of Orlando Pirates FC, one of South Africa's most recognisable brands, which he has built into the number two commercial sports brand behind the Springboks -- the national rugby team adored by corporate South Africa.

His negotiating skills have also brought millions of rands to South African soccer, helping develop one of the continent's most competitive leagues and laying the groundwork for the country's successful bid to host the 2010 soccer World Cup.

Sport has not gained from the government's Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy that seeks to redress the ills of apartheid by handing blacks a bigger role in the economy. Leaders in the field have developed their own initiatives, but are still hoping sport can benefit from empowerment deals.

"We have not been involved in any of the deals. But we have to find in-roads, we are talking to government, we are talking to business, there must be a way in which sport becomes part of the package to empower blacks," Khoza added.

The economy is still firmly controlled by whites 11 years after democratic elections that brought Nelson Mandela to power.

Although soccer clubs and their players have not been visible in BEE deals, they have blossomed in the past decade thanks to growing interest from corporate South Africa, better management, and sales to European sides, analysts say.

Khoza rescued Orlando Pirates from the brink of collapse in the early 1990s. He negotiated a lucrative sponsorship deal with cell phone operator Vodacom and began a brand merchandising campaign modelled on UK premier league clubs Manchester United and Chelsea that have turned his club into a 500 million rand a year ($82 million) business.

"We've had to show Africa that sport can be a successful business, it's no longer just a social thing," said Khoza, a tough soccer administrator nicknamed "Iron Duke".

Pirates and their main rivals Kaizer Chiefs in January teamed up with the huge Zionist Christian Church to sell mobile phone cards at matches and religious services for Vodacom. Brand manager Zodwa Khoza, Khoza's daughter, said they had met their 10-year target in six months but offered no financial details.

WORLD CUP DREAM

Khoza surprised his colleagues at the South African Football Association (SAFA) in 1997 when he told them it was time to bid to host the World Cup -- a global sporting showpiece.

He put his own cash into the campaign for a year before corporate South Africa warmed up to the idea, resulting in a gallant but failed effort to bring the 2006 World Cup to the country once considered a pariah because of apartheid.

Disappointment was quickly forgotten when South Africa was awarded the 2010 event, which FIFA says will raise billions of rands in tourism earnings, television rights and gate takings.

Commentators say the World Cup will leave a legacy of new soccer stadiums in a country where the sport has often relied on rugby or cricket facilities, as well as training venues and improved roads and rail systems.

Orlando Pirates runs an academy to nurture young talent, some of them orphans rescued from abject poverty. Their choir is a major feature at national events in South Africa.

"Through the World Cup, through Orlando Pirates, we are giving back to our communities, growing the disadvantaged, helping share the spoils of the economy," Zodwa Khoza said.

SOCCER TITANS Cricket and rugby are still largely managed by whites, but blacks have grabbed a foothold in soccer clubs, reflecting the sport's widespread popularity in the black population.

Kaizer Chiefs owner Kaizer Motaung, and former national team coach Jomo Sono who owns Jomo Cosmos football club both once played for Orlando Pirates. While they may not always agree with Khoza it is at his club they learned to commercialise the sport.

Motaung and Sono, considered two of the best soccer players ever produced by South Africa, are multi-millionaires with vast and diverse business interests.

Khoza, who was a township soccer official at the age of 14, was a major shareholder in black-led downstream oil company Exel, which was bought by petrochemicals firm Sasol (SOLJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research).

The venture brought him a small bundle of cash and he is negotiating other deals in energy, real estate including a shopping complex in the township of Soweto, construction and tourism. A game reserve he is developing will open before the 2010 World Cup "so some of my friends can go there and relax."

Khoza, a sometimes controversial figure in the business world, was investigated in 2002 for non-payment of tax.

Revenue officials took a year to separate his personal liabilities from those of Orlando Pirates and other businesses and he settled a claim of 7.2 million rand.

Born in the impoverished Alexandra township north of Johannesburg and expelled from South Africa's Fort Hare University because of anti-apartheid student activism, Khoza says business must learn from the mistakes of the past.

"We've got to work hard in sport to make an impact in business, I certainly have and it is fulfilling to see that Orlando Pirates can commercially run itself," Khoza said.

Source: Reuters