No women’s team, no participation in the Confederation of African Football (Caf) club competitions in the 2022-2023 season. That is the directive from the continental football governing body which could constitute a crisis for 14 teams in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
TS Galaxy and Mamelodi Sundowns, the recently crowned inaugural Caf Women’s Champions League champions, are the only clubs with a women’s team in the elite league of SA soccer. Sundowns owner Patrice Motsepe is now Caf president and is the power behind the push to further develop women’s football in Africa.
Sundowns ladies are glowing from making history after Banyana Ba Style beat Ghanaian club Hassacas Ladies 2-0 in the Champions League final in Cairo last week.
The Caf directive means the teams that will finish in the top three in the DStv Premiership and Nedbank Cup winners in the 2021-2022 DStv Premiership season will have to comply with Caf rules or lose their slots in both the men’s Champions League and Confederation Cup next season.
PSL chair Irvin Khoza told the Sunday Times this week that the league will address the Caf instruction next month.
“The matter will be discussed in the next executive committee meeting and then ventilated exhaustively in the BoG (Board of Governors, made up of all 32 PSL teams),” said Khoza. Kaizer Chiefs have already welcomed Caf’s push to professionalise women’s football on the continent.
Amakhosi’s marketing director Jessica Motaung said that the club is busy with plans to launch a women’s team.
“It’s been part of our strategy to have a women’s team,” said Motaung yesterday. “I can’t reveal all our plans but having a women’s team is definitely part of our strategy and something we’ve been working towards.
“We’ll announce our plans at the right time, but we can’t at the moment talk about when we’ll introduce the team to the public.”
Motaung, who hailed Sundowns for their victory in last week’s final, said Chiefs support the empowering of women through football.
“We understand the importance of this and we congratulate the Sundowns women’s team for what they’ve achieved already.
Sundowns’ win has created the excitement and willingness among club owners to consider starting these teams. “What’s critical though is that when people venture into women’s football they also get the right infrastructure, get the proper support and not just do it for the sake of complying with the rules.
“But there must be (financial) stability in our clubs before there’s additional investment (in women’s football). “For now the PSL has not discussed this issue because they’ve been focusing on ensuring that the clubs survive all the challenges that have been posed by Covid-19.”
SA Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan said discussions between the association and the PSL on women’s football and club licensing are ongoing.
Having a women’s team is definitely part of our strategy and something we’ve been working towards
— Kaizer Chiefs marketing director Jessica Motaung
“But I’m glad that clubs like TS Galaxy and Vasco Da Gama have joined Sundowns in having women’s teams. We’ll convene a meeting with the PSL to further discuss what will happen next season,” said Jordaan, who was travelling back to SA after attending Caf’s extraordinary meeting in Cairo this week.
“We believe Caf’s call will be good for the growth of women’s football in the country. We did offer two slots to PSL clubs when we launched the Women’s Super League (in 2019) and two clubs, Sundowns and Bloemfontein Celtic, participated.”
Not much was discussed on women’s football by Caf in Cairo this week. But Motsepe reiterated Caf’s support for Fifa’s proposal to organise the men’s World Cup every two years. Motsepe added that Caf was continuing with plans to have a Super League in Africa, but no details on how they’ll make up teams to participate in it were divulged.
“This matter is still with the executive committee. This is an important competition and it should benefit African football, improve the quality of income, not just for those clubs but countries that will be participating,” said Motsepe of the Super League.
“We’ll make an announcement in due course in terms of what additional information we want to provide about the Super League. But it’s something that’s exciting and has huge potential.”
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