Chiefs fail to qualify for Mascom Top 8

  • Cash strapped Chiefs could have benefitted from mandatory P250 000 participation fee
  • Chiefs to finish outside top 8 for the first time in 11 years

BONGANI MALUNGA

Mochudi Centre Chiefs have failed to qualify for the lucrative Mascom Top 8 tournament for the first time ever. Magosi are set to finish outside the top eight after a disappointing season which has seen them notch less than 10 wins so far, with only one game remaining. Chiefs will finish outside the top eight for the first time since the 2005/2006 season whereby they finished 10th.
The Kgatleng giants have been a perennial competitor in the competition for seven straight seasons. The Mascom Top 8 is considered the holy grail among the Chiefs faithful as it is the only competition they have never won, they have never surpassed the semifinal stage of the competition either.
Missing out on it for another season will add to their Top 8 drought but most importantly the cash strapped club will miss out on the mandatory P250 000 participation fee which is given to every first round participant. Chiefs’ financial woes have been well documented this year and they could have benefited from the P250 000 cash injection which would have gone a long way in terms of helping them rebuild in the upcoming season.
Chiefs’ elimination from top eight qualification was confirmed this past weekend as they failed to beat former coach Bongani Mafu and his Orapa United side, the game ended 0-0 and Chiefs will not be able to leapfrog Black Forest who confirmed their position amongst the top eight teams in the league.
Guided by former Zimbabwean striker Gilbert Mushangazike, Forest have qualified for next season’s Mascom Top 8, they are currently on 41 points and could finish higher than eighth if they win their last game while their rivals fail to win. Forest beat former Mascom Top 8 champions BDF XI 1-0 over the weekend to book their place in the competition for the first time in their history.