Tinkler: Caf competitions come with challenges

The Citizens will represent South Africa in the next edition of the Caf Confederations Cup after finishing third on the 2016/17 Absa Premiership standings.

Tinkler travelled in Africa with Orlando Pirates in 2015 where he led them to the Confederation Cup final, with Bucs losing to Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel.

“You know if you finish third, that’s where you go, the Confederation Cup,” Tinkler told the media.

“You obviously have to reassess the squad come the end of the season, although we have already started doing that.

“You are always looking to strengthen the squad and get depth, but for us to achieve that in our first season is fantastic,” he added.

“And giving guys the opportunity of experiencing what Caf competitions are all about, what it is like to travel in Africa … the more players that experience that, the better, obviously, for the national team.

“John [Comitis] himself wants us to get there and he knows it is obviously going to be very important for us to look for sponsorships to aid, because we know all the costs that goes into going into Caf,” he continued.

“But I believe that the PSL helps to a certain degree with the funding, so I think that takes a little bit of weight off the clubs.

“But I think sponsorships are needed in our game to ensure teams do go there – if you’ve got teams from Mali and Gabon,” he explained.

“And the ends of the earth that financially don’t have what we have in our country, you have to be questioning why it is that we can’t go, so we’ll find a way.”