Fans miss ‘their’ Selati Cup
With the South African Football Association (Safa) not giving the green light to grassroots sporting activities, Nkomazi-based soccer supporters desperately want the Selati Cup to be played.
The Selati Cup, which is proudly sponsored by the RCL Foods and endorsed by Safa, is the province’s biggest annual amateur soccer competition, hosted in the Nkomazi subregion, and is contested by more than 100 soccer teams.
Since inception in 2005, this competition has produced a number of great talents who have gone to ply their trade with top Premier League teams in the country.
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Players such as former Orlando Pirates defenders, Lucas Twala and Sebola Mkhabela are some of the notable names to have participated in the Selati Cup. “It is common knowledge that the Selati Cup has brought great entertainment to our shores when it comes to sport. We don’t have many exciting sporting activities happening in this subregion and that is why every year we look forward to hosting Selati Cup games. I really don’t see any reasons why Safa is still refusing to permit games when government has made it legal to have gatherings,” questioned Mayoyo Makhubela, one of the biggest Selati Cup fanatics.
The Selati Cup is hosted in almost all the 53 villages of this big subregion, with the finals hosted at either KaMhlushwa or Driekoppies stadium.
The secretary of the Selati Cup’s local organising committee, Kenneth Phiri said it is important for them to abide by the safety and health regulations to disrupt the spread of Covid-19.
“Yes, the people are calling on us to have the games but we have to follow procedures and abide by the regulations. We have to wait for Safa to allow amateur competitions to be hosted once again and then we can make a move and see if it is doable to host the people’s games,” said Phiri.
Local soccer teams have also joined the many voices to have the Selati Cup tournament back again.
Thokozani Mkhatshwa, a coach and club owner, said this competition has given local teams much more than just game time.
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“Our teams have enormously benefited from this tournament. We receive proper training clinics from top professional players such as Lucas Radebe, which helps us and our players become more professional.
The sponsors, RCL Foods also donates full soccer kits to our teams, something which most of us could not afford.
This tournament has played a huge role in this subregion and it would be such a disappointment to see it canned like that,” said Mkhathswa, who successfully guided his team to two Selati Cup finals.
