Kaizer Chiefs coach Khalil Ben Youssef has questioned how they have not seen their domestic fixtures postponed to help ease their congested schedule after six games in 19 days.
Since the return to football after the month-long break for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Chiefs have won five from their six games, but the defeat was a first round exit from the Nedbank Cup, the title they lifted last season.
But after that 2-1 loss to Stellenbosch, they bounced back in Polokwane, with a 2-1 win over Al Masry to move top of their group ahead of the final fixture in Cairo next week against African giants Zamalek SC.
In reference to Al Masry head coach Nabi Kouki expressing how challenging their conditions have been for travelling across the continent to South Africa and Zambia, added to their domestic demands, Ben Youssef questioned why there were no similar postponements as last season – where Orlando Pirates finished the campaign after the scheduled round of fixtures had elapsed.
“We played five or four games away now, we’re in a situation, we play now we fly back tomorrow, we prepare in between games with no training sessions, for two weeks we have not had a training session. We play, tomorrow it’s rest or recovery, then MD-1 you can do nothing, then game,” he said after the win in Polokwane which was their 22nd game of the season in all competitions.
“When you prepare fixtures you have to think about the players, the team, as Chiefs we’re playing this competition and all our league games, I remember last season they [Orlando Pirates] played CAF games, they changed the fixtures and played their last five games in May.
“We’re playing in CAF and playing almost all the games, the opposition, they don’t play anything and have two or three games before us to be in the same amount of games. We’re representing the country, so we have to think about the team, how we manage the game.”
Of the six games played, only one fixture has been at FNB Stadium, their home ground and they will face the White Knights, Siwelele, Stellenbosch and Orlando Pirates before the end of February.
“Sometimes we have to find solutions. We have two months without competition and then come back and play every three days a game, how do you deal with that? Playing away games, travelling, load, we’re at big risk of injuring players,” he continued.
“So for that we have to make rotations. And with this rotation we lost Miguel, because of too many games, today we have Aden, three yellow cards, then we playing Zamalek in Egypt to try and be qualified, we have Zitha and Given at centre-back.
“It’s no excuses but reality, if you want to improve, help you need to help your team also, we’re Kaizer Chiefs, but we’re representing South Africa… what am I asking? We did this last season, some teams played the last, five, six games in May.
“This season we played 15 games, another team, I don’t want to say names have played 15 games and they don’t play [in CAF]. If we represent Kaizer Chiefs – we represent Kaizer Chiefs, but when we represent South Africa, we represent South Africa.
“In every country I have worked in, when you play CAF games, you’re allowed to change the fixtures, see how many games they have played [Al Masry].”
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