Durban Ladies coach calls for protection against player poaching

Speaking to SABC Sport, the recent CAF B Coaching License graduate says teams are bleeding at the end of each season as they are unable to hold on to their players without binding contracts. 

Makhaye says the move to professionalise the South African elite women’s league is paramount.

"Once the league is professionalised, it will help a lot in terms of the standard because teams will be able to keep their key players," said Makhaye.

"At the moment we don't have anything that protects teams in terms of keeping players, so after the season ends, the players are free to go anywhere they think is better or they want to go. So, once we have contracts, it will secure the future of teams."

Makhaye says they are getting reinforcements to beef up their team, especially in defence and attack, as they look to improve on their 13th-place finish in the 2024 season.

"Beefing up the squad with experienced players is one of our mandates at this particular moment, to try and bring players in that will help the team," he added.

"We know our downfall [from last season], so we'll try our level best on reinforcing certain departments, especially in the defensive and attacking parts because we created so many chances, but we couldn't convert them."

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