Absa’s departure more inspiration for Chiefs to lift league title, says Cardoso

With the Premier Soccer League’s premium sponsor, Absa announcing that they will be cutting ties at the end of the current season, Kaizer Chiefs defender Daniel Cardoso says they want to be the last team who name will be written on the Absa Premiership trophy.

READ: Chiefs and Pirates need to form women’s teams – Ellis

It is likely that the team who wins will get to keep the trophy forever as a new sponsor is likely to design a new one.

“We had already made it clear that we want to win the league for our chairman (Kaizer Motaung) as a gift as the club celebrates 50 years of existence this season,” said Cardoso as quoted by Ilanga.

“We now also want to be the last club to win it while it is called the Absa Premiership as that sponsor is leaving,” added Cardoso.

The 33-year-old defender also called on fellow players to practice caution and follow all the rules when they start training to avoid a situation where the league will be stopped again.

Local clubs were given the green light last weekend to return to active football and many are expected to start full training this week. But Cardoso is wary that if protocols are not observed, there might be a further outbreak which will result in the games stopped again.

“It is very important that we follow all the lockdown rules. Players are at an increased risk of infection because football is a contact sport. It is important to adhere to all safety measures,” he said.

Orlando Pirates’ Ben Motshwari was the first local to catch the deadly virus and luckily he has since fully recovered. Cardoso said it scared him to learn of Motshwari’s situation.

“I was shocked to learn that Ben Motshwari had caught the virus. It told me that we are at risk of infection as players. We really need to work together so we can go back to the field,” he said.

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