Chiefs undecided on venue for Rollers game
Lekopanye Mooketsi | Friday January 16, 2015 13:42
Chiefs host the first leg tentatively on February 14, before the return leg a fortnight later in Gaborone.
Speaking on phone from Johannesburg, Kaizer Chiefs corporate communications manager, Vina Maposa said they are yet to settle on a venue, although they will make a decision soon. Maposa said they look forward to their fixture against Rollers and are aware of their strong support base in Botswana. “It is an exciting prospect for us, we can’t wait,” said the Chiefs official.
He said they would give Rollers the respect they deserve, but not on the soccer field as Chiefs has been in good form. Maposa said preparations for the CAF encounter have not started in earnest as they are on a mid-season break.
He said five of their key players are with the Bafana Bafana squad, which is in Equatorial Guinea for the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Chiefs will be a bit rusty when they play Rollers as they would have just played their first league game of the year. Chiefs is scheduled to host German Bundesliga side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in a friendly match tonight.
Maposa said they intend to go far in the competition after they were knocked out before the group stages last year.
Meanwhile, Township Rollers director, Jagdish Shah said they are excited to have been drawn against Kaizer Chiefs.
He said they are going to do their best to ensure that Chiefs gets good hospitality and have set up an organising committee to that effect. However, Jagdish warned they are not going extend that hospitality to Chiefs on the field. He said they are ahead in terms of preparations as they would have played more league games by the time they face Chiefs.
Kaizer Chiefs was the first South African team to face a local side in a CAF tournament. In 1993, when they were participating in the CAF competitions for the first time, Kaizer Chiefs eliminated Extension Gunners.