OUR Team
Nicolaus ("Nick") Sakiewicz
President and Co-Founder
A 25-year veteran of the sports and entertainment industry and former professional football (soccer) goalkeeper in Europe and the USA, Nick joined Major League Soccer (‘MLS’) as a founding executive in 1995 and became the first Vice President of Commercial Sponsorship Sales. From 1997 to 2006 he led and served as President and General Manager of the inaugural MLS teams in Tampa and New York, during which he has named the League’s Executive of the Year twice (1999 and 2000). Nick was instrumental in the record-setting $100 million sale of the New York Metro Stars to Red Bull, including the sale of naming rights of the team and stadium, Red Bull Arena.
Nick is an expert in financing stadium developments. He engineered the deals to build two soccer-specific stadiums. The first was for the Red Bulls in America’s largest market, the New York / New Jersey metropolitan area. The second was for the Philadelphia Union, the League’s 16th franchise, which he helped found and turn into one of the League’s must successful start-ups. In 2016, Nick joined the National Lacrosse League as Commissioner, which he has turned into one of the fastest growing sports leagues in the USA.
René Meulensteen
Technical Director and Co-Founder
René is a Dutch national and a UEFA Pro License holder with extensive experience of working with some of the world’s best players at the highest levels. His early career was in the Netherlands before taking up managerial roles with the Qatari youth team, as well as clubs Al- Ittihad and Al-Sadd. He spent 12 years at Manchester United in which he was attributed with improving the technique of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Nani, and Robin van Persie, amongst many others. He was responsible for bringing juniors such as Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley through the ranks to international recognition.
From 2008 until 2013, he was the first-team coach for Manchester United, during which time he helped Sir Alex Ferguson secure the Premier League title in 2008–09, 2010–11 and 2012–13; the Community Shield in 2008, 2010, 2011, the League Cup in 2008– 09 and 2009–10; the UEFA Champions League in 2007–08 and FIFA Club World Cup in 2008. Following his departure from Manchester United in 2013, René was in charge of Anzhi Makhachkala, Fulham and Maccabi Haifa for short spells before joining the Australian national team, where he is now the assistant manager. He in fluent in English and German, intermediate in French and Spanish and speaks basic Arabic.
Cobus Kotze
Director of Strategy & Business Development
An accomplished and seasoned professional with more than 20 years’ experience in, inter alia, the ownership of major sporting brands, events, stadia and facilities on the African continent. He has also managed international sporting competitions and the ir associated media rights. In 1985, he founded South African Investment Limited (‘SAIL’), South Africa’s leading sports investment company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Luxembourg Exchange. SAIL invested in various high profile sport teams, sports facilities and related opportunities.
Cobus was responsible for, or directly involved in, the redevelopment of several sporting venues. He also conceptualized, founded and managed various sporting competitions, leagues and events. He led the successful bid to the International Rugby Board in 1991 to bring the Rugby World Cup to South Africa in 1995. He managed the international tour and travel rights for South Africa for the Soccer World Cup 1994 (USA) and 1998 (France) and Rugby World Cup in 1999 (Wales and England) and all commercial rights for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, ticketing, and tour and travel.
He has served as a board member of the South African Broadcasting Corporation and Rugby World Cup Host Broadcasting Ltd. He was part of the start-up of SAIL Australia and Sportal Australia and was responsible for New Media in South Africa and Australia. He negotiated a Telstra 25-year contract for online rights to Australian Football League and all FIFA Broadcasting rights in Africa.