Kaizer Chiefs Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jnr says the calls have been heard for a potential return to Dobsonville Stadium – but won’t be possible in the CAF Confederation Cup this season.
Chiefs beat AS Simba 3-1 in a packed arena in Soweto, which proved to be a huge success with an incredible atmosphere on the day as they sealed their progress to the group stages.
However, Motaung Jr. has confirmed that the stadium is not accredited by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in the group stages – which means they are set to be played at their usual home ground, FNB Stadium this season.
“We would love to, and that’s a very important question, Dobsonville is not an accredited CAF Stadium for the group stages, we were allowed to use it for the prelim stage, but we’re not allowed to use it for the group stages,” he said.
“The atmosphere was amazing in Dobsonville, the people came out in numbers, connected, it was electric and we always want to take the games to the people but in this instance, it’s out of our hands and we won’t be able to go back there.
“We saw how important that kind of atmosphere is for a home team – so we need to replicate that and we call for the Amakhosi faithful to come out in their numbers, as the 12th man, they are the ones that give us the edge. If they are with us, like they are in Dobsonville, we can achieve great things.”
Chiefs were drawn alongside ZESCO United from Zambia, along with Egyptian Premier League sides Zamalek and Al Masry in the draw that took place on Monday in Johannesburg.
[Image Credit: Lebogang Tsotsetsi]