Battle lines drawn for Motsepe league

NINE teams will do battle to determine who will step into the National First Division, NFD, next season.

The 2017 ABC Motsepe play-offs have been drawn after the South African Football Association (Safa), in partnership with the Motsepe Foundation, conducted the draw on May 30.

The play-offs will take place from June 5 to 11 and will be held in East London at three different venues, Jan Smuts Stadium and Sisa Dukashe will host the group stage matches as well as the semi-finals.

The final will take place on June 11 at Buffalo City Stadium.

Kick-off is at 3pm.

Following a long and demanding season of competitive ABC Motsepe League football, nine teams emerged champions of their respective provinces and are now just a few days away from competing for the ultimate prize. The first prize stands at R1 million of which R200 000 will go towards soccer development in the province. The second prize is R500 000 and the same applies for soccer development in the province of the runner-up. The club will receive R400 000 and development R100 000 of the prize money.

“As the Motsepe Foundation, we are proud to be associated with this venture as it talks to the heart of development, which we are passionate about. For South African football to be ranked up high among the best, it is important that the foundation laid is solid, and we are excited that we are playing a meaningful role in that aspect. We would like to thank our partners Safa for allowing us to be part of this great initiative,” said Nozipho Xulu, general manager of the Motsepe Foundation.

The following Provincial clubs have been confirmed as champions in their respective provinces and will compete for the two spots of promotion to the NFD:

Eastern Cape – EC Bees, Free State – Super Eagles, Gauteng – TBC, KwaZulu Natal –Uthongathi, Limpopo – The Dolphins, Mpumalanga – Acornbush, Northern Cape – Mainstay United, North West – Buya Msuthu and Western Cape – Zizwe United.

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