Soccer
Cufa Cup game hangs in the balance─── MORGAN PIEK 07:21 Sun, 13 Oct 2024
“Marumo Gallants FC would like to advise its supporters and fans that it is unable to confirm its participation in the Cufa Cup games against Kaizer Chiefs on 13 October due to contractual dispute with the organisers.”
The Cufa Cup game between Marumo Gallants and the Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs set for Sunday afternoon in Bloemfontein is hanging in the balance.
The friendly match between the two PSL clubs is traditionally one of the highlights of the Cufa Festival, however, the Bloemfontein-based team Gallants has threatened to pull out of the contest at the 11th hour.
The match in Bloemfontein is set to be the third time since July that Chiefs play in the city, and on each of the previous two occasions, it was a sold-out match. In July, Chiefs played against Young Africans ( Tanzania) in the inaugural Toyota Cup which they lost 4-0. In September, Chiefs beat Gallants 2-1 in a round of the PSL.
Locked in a contractual dispute
Sunday’s match was also expected to deliver another capacity crowd.
On Saturday night, Gallants confirmed that they were still locked in a contractual dispute with the event organisers and they could not confirm whether or not they would play in the eagerly anticipated game against the Amakhosi.
“Marumo Gallants FC would like to advise its supporters and fans that it is unable to confirm its participation in the Cufa Cup games against Kaizer Chiefs on the 13th of October due to a contractual dispute with the organisers.
“Marumo Gallants FC shall advise accordingly should the dispute be resolved on time to confident participation.” By Sunday morning there were still no new developments surrounding the situation.
It comes as no surprise that the supporters of Gallants in particular took to social media to express their displeasure with the situation and they also raised questions about the club’s professionalism.
‘Who’ll support you now???’
“You full of jokes, results of buying status. Unprofessional team rushing to join PSL. Look at you now p***ing people off. Who’ll support you now??? Two days ago you said you are ready!!!! Now you wanna cancel the match. You’ll go back to ABC MOTSEPE LEAGUE,” read one of the comments.
“How can we fully support this team mara. If it was Bloemfontein Celtic, they wouldn’t have cared about the contracts and anything else because they understand how important it is to play for the supporters eseng re rekile di ticket tsa R75 hleng,” read another.
Should the dispute be resolved in time, the Cufa Cup match at the Toyota Stadium is scheduled to kick off at 15:00.
