Vodacom Challenge cancelled
Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates will not
be playing in the Vodacom Challenge this year after the event was cancelled.
Although organisers SAIL have yet to make
an official announcement, it is believed the showpiece event will be called off
as the teams they had targeted – English Premiership Newcastle United and DR
Congo’s TP Mazembe – had yet to be secured.
It will be just the second time since 1999
that the pre-season tournament will not take place, and a potential financial
disaster for SAIL, who as rights holders still have to pay Chiefs and Pirates a
fee.
The only other year that the event did not
take place was directly after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when it was felt it
would be overshadowed by the global showpiece.
Recent seasons have seen Manchester United
(twice), Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur visit South Africa for the event.
Manchester United will be returning to
South Africa in July to play AmaZulu and Ajax Cape Town, but those matches are
an independent tour.
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