Sport Matters

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Soweto giants Chiefs, Pirates share Lubumbashi spotlight

South Africa’s biggest football clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, find themselves in a rare shared situation this weekend — both are in Lubumbashi, DR Congo, for continental battles. First off the mark are Chiefs, who on Saturday meet AS Simba in the CAF Confederation Cup at the TP Mazembe Stadium. Kick-off is at 3pm SA time. On Sunday, Pirates take on Saint Eloi Lupopo in the CAF Champions League at the 35,000-capacity Stade Frédéric Kibassa Maliba. While Lupopo are based in Lubumbashi — the DRC’s second-largest city after Kinshasa — Simba hail from Kolwezi, about 300km northwest of Lubumbashi. They have been forced to stage their CAF home fixtures in Katanga’s capital because their home province, Lualaba, lacks a CAF-approved stadium. Simba booked their spot in the 2025–26 CAF Confederation Cup by winning the Coupe du Congo, the national cup competition, defeating MK Kinshasa 1–0 in the final. Jacques Mangoba netted the decisive goal in the 90th minute, sealing both the t...

Lack of suitable home venue points to deepening crisis for Lesotho football

The relocation of Lioli’s “home” fixture against Orlando Pirates from Lesotho to the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein underscores the deepening crisis of football infrastructure in the mountain kingdom. While football remains a unifying and popular sport in Lesotho, the absence of an internationally compliant stadium has turned home advantage into a paradox—forcing clubs and national teams alike to host matches on foreign soil. At the heart of this problem is the Setsoto Stadium in Maseru, the only facility previously recognized for international use. Since its suspension in 2021 by FIFA and CAF, due to its failure to meet international standards, Lesotho has been stripped of the ability to host matches at home. This not only damages the country’s sporting reputation but also undermines the growth of local football. For Lioli and other clubs, being forced to host continental matches outside the country strips them of the psychological and logistical benefits that come with playing i...

Team SA looks sharper for Tokyo world athletics championships

When the 20th World Athletics Championships get underway at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday, September 13, Team South Africa will be chasing a return to the global podium after an agonizing eight-year wait. Not since the 2017 edition in London has the country won medals at the world’s premier athletics showpiece. That year, Wayde van Niekerk, Caster Semenya, and Luvo Manyonga spearheaded a golden generation, delivering six medals combined. In 2017, Van Niekerk claimed gold in the 400m and silver in the 200m, Semenya won the 800m and secured bronze in the 1,500m, while Manyonga leapt to gold in the long jump. Ruswahl Samaai added a long jump bronze to complete what remains one of South Africa’s finest performances at a World Championships. Since then, however, the nation has endured a dry spell, failing to reach the podium in subsequent editions. This year, hope has been rekindled. A 49-member squad carries the weight of expectation, led by the experienced Akani Simbin...

Nigerians pay the price for ignoring their own league

Earlier this year, Nigerian media, commentators, and football followers erupted in outrage following the March 25 World Cup qualifier in Uyo, where the Super Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw by Zimbabwe. On paper, it should have been an easy assignment. Nigeria’s squad, stacked with stars from Europe’s top leagues, was expected to sweep aside a Zimbabwean side traditionally considered lightweight. Yet the Warriors who arrived in Uyo were far from the Zimbabwe of old. The southern Africans had undergone a quiet transformation, with several players now plying their trade in big European leagues. Zimbabwe has also borrowed from West Africans by pursuing diaspora kids for its national team. The outpouring of anger in Nigeria was not surprising, given the country’s unmatched passion for football. But in hindsight, the fury was misplaced. The ongoing African Nations Championship (CHAN), currently being staged in East Africa, has brutally exposed where Nigeria’s real weakness lies. Unlike the ...

Ambitious Pyramids rank as Pirates' most important foe so far this CAF season

For decades, the Egyptian league had been dominated by Cairo giants Al Ahly and Zamalek football clubs, with some limited challenge offered by Ismaily and Arab Contractors. Both Ismaily and Arab Contractors had significantly receded in the past decade, with the Contractors (now preferring to be known as Al Mokawloon Al Arab) losing their premier league status as they currently campaign in the Egyptian second-tier. Despite their fallen fortunes, the Contractors and Ismaily remain among five other clubs to win the Egyptian league apart from Al Ahly and Zamalek. Amid these events Pyramids FC emerged in 2018 to forcefully stake a claim in the top 3 of the Egyptian league. The club was in fact formed in 2008 as Al Assiouty Sport in Beni Suef, a city 120km south of Cairo. In 2018, a season after the club had returned to premier for its second stint, it was bought by the chairman of the Saudi Sports Authority Turki Al-Sheikh, renamed Pyramids and relocated to New Cairo, a modern metropolit...

Broos returns respect and the swag to Bafana

When Hugo Broos was announced in May 2021 as the new manager of the South African national football team, the news was received by sneers and jeers if not completely ignored by some of those it affected the most - the SA soccer fraternity. At the time Bafana Bafana, the national team, had not long been labelled a "bunch of losers" by the sports minister Fikile Mbalula. His words cut like a blunt knife, even though the truth is that Bafana were at the time hopeless and lacked confidence. It was fair-game for anyone, including the lowest-ranked nations, to meet Bafana because the chances of scoring a victory over the SA team were real and attainable. So, more than the sports minister, the nation was despondent over Bafana circumstances. Even Broos appointment, despite his known success on the continent, was slammed as that of an old man chasing an easy retirement fund. It was a tough job from the start for the Belgian - having to rouse the players from a comatose of low sel...