Why Kaizer Chiefs don’t yet have a women’s team - Jessica Motaung

Speaking exclusively to SABC Sport, marketing and commercial director Jessica Motaung has now shed light on the delay. 

With her role in the CAF women’s committee as well as the African Clubs Association, the spotlight has been on Motaung to speed up this process, which – as she explains – isn’t as straightforward as some may assume. 

"It's very challenging to have any club, whether it's a men's club or women's club – or just a youth club. You need the funding, you need the facilities, you need all sorts of things," said Motaung.

"I mean, if you look at the Hollywoodbets [Super League], which I'm very proud of – I think it's very good that we have a league like that.

"There just needs to be a structural change in that we need to be able to allow clubs – and I know Sundowns have also asked and really pushed – to have their own sponsors, we need boards to be able to let our sponsors advertise.

"These are challenges – it's not just, you have a team and that's it. You need the money to fund it and, to do that, sponsors need the exposure.

"So we are in discussions with SAFA to say, if we have a women's team, how can we all work together to restructure this so that it's a win-win for the teams, the sponsors that come in, and for the main sponsor that SAFA has as well.

"So, it's a collaborative process, and I think we need to look at ourselves as an industry and say, 'How do we modify this and make sure that it's a win-win for everybody.'

The astute administrator also addressed comments by former Banyana Banyana captain Janine van Wyk that Chiefs’ offer to buy her club JVW FC in the Hollywoodbets Super League last year was too low, resulting in a collapsed bid.

"We've also been talking with different teams to look at the opportunity of buying into a team, and that has its challenges as well," Motaung revealed.

"People are buying statuses and things like that, but we want to do things properly – and that's something we're looking at all the options to make sure we can make it happen.

"We did talk to them [JVW] about the opportunity, and it would have been lovely to partner with them, but unfortunately we didn't agree terms, and I don't want to air discussions we've had in the media. 

"All the best to Janine and the team, and I hope they continue doing well.

READ: Jessica Motaung on the newly-formed African Club Association