Kaizer Chiefs managing director Kaizer Motaung has conceded that the faint hope of winning the championship was lost in the 3-0 Premiership defeat against relegation-threatened Black Leopards at Ellis Park last Saturday.

While Chiefs never threatened in the championship race in a season that promised so much, the Glamour Boys still believed last week that they could sneak in a surprise if they won their remaining five matches.

That dream was shattered when Leopards came to Ellis Park firing on all cylinders and shocked the Amakhosi, snatching all three points.

"That was very disappointing and one our worst performances in a long time. We have to accept that the league is now out of our reach. Whatever little hope we had diminished with the loss against Leopards," said Motaung.

Leopards made their intentions clear very early in the game as they took a 12th minute lead from the penalty spot then doubled their advantage five minutes later. Any hopes of the turning the tables on Leopards were diminished on 65 minutes when the Limpopo side hammered in the final nail.

"Take nothing away from the Leopards' performance. They came fully prepared and never gave us a chance to settle down, and we paid a heavy price for that. That is now water under the bridge. We have to get positive results in our remaining matches and try to finish as high as possible on the log."

Victory against Leopards and a similar achievement in the remaining four matches would have earned Amakhosi 55 points in total, and slim chance of taking the championship pending the outcome of other title contenders like Wits University, Moroka Swallows and Orlando Pirates.

Meanwhile, the Amakhosi MD, who is also a Premier Soccer League (PSL) executive member, will be used by the South African 2010 World Cup bid as one of its advisers.

It will be the second involvement the Chiefs has had with the bid after working with the Bid Committee in the final stages of the 2006 campaign.

"First, I must acknowledge my appointment to the 2010 World Cup bid committee as one of their advisers. It is a great honour for me and I am looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead in our effort to bring the World Cup to South Africa," said Motaung.

"For us to be successful we will have to pull together and use all the necessary resources at our disposal to ensure that this time the tournament comes to our shores.

"The 2010 campaign officially kicks off on April 30 when Bafana Bafana play against Jamaica at Athlone Stadium."