The last week of November saw the Amakhosi make history on two separate stages with their involvement in the Soccerex Exhibition and the historical move ‘back home’ to Orlando. The appearances on the International stage as well as on the field of play saw Kaizer Chiefs cater for the demands and needs of their large fan base, catering for all the LSM groups that represent the Amakhosi.

The Soccerex Exhibition took place last week from the 24th-26th November at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg’s Northern Suburbs. The ‘B to B’, Business to Business forum allowed the Marketing and Brand Departments to engage other forerunners in the football industry. Kaizer Chiefs were a part of the exhibition team, for approximately 6-8 years of attending the exhibition, and did their part in representing South African football as a true South African sports brand.

The build up for the exhibition began as early as the 21st-23rd November where stand builders assembled the exhibitors’ stands in two halls at the Convention Centre. The Kaizer Chiefs stand was assembled in Hall 2 and was strategically situated and surrounded by The Royal Bafokeng stand, AAA (Audi), MTN and the Soccerex Networking Lounge.

The Exhibition opened on the 23rd November with a Football Festival which took place at the Nelson Mandela Square with the Liverpool All Stars, Manchester United All Stars, Soccerex All Stars and the African All Stars taking part. South Africa’s own talented footballers, Shaun Bartlett and Doctor Khumalo played alongside George Weah, Liberian Football Legend in a football show full of thrilling football antics, trickery and excitement.

The Confederations Cup Draw also took place on the 23rd November at the Convention Centre with a star-studded attendance of the Football industries ‘big name players’, Kaizer Chiefs was well represented by Marketing Director, Ms. Jessica Motaung and the Chairman and member of the LOC, Mr. Kaizer Motaung. The official Soccerex Exhibition opened on Monday 24th November with the opening ceremony chaired by the Chairman of the LOC, Dr. Irvin Khoza, the Chairman of Soccerex, Mr. Toni Martin and the Gauteng Premier, Mr. Paul Mashatile. The Conference included panels that discussed issues from Stadia, Media in Football, Licensing, Player Development and Law and Finance.

Speakers included key ‘players’ like FIFA’s General Secretary, Mr. Jerome Valcke, Gerald Houllier (French Football Federation), John Barnes (Head Coach, Jamaica), Danny Jordan (CEO of the LOC), George Khunou (Royal Bafokeng Holdings Ltd), Kalusha Bwalya (President of the Zambian FA and FIFA Ambassador), Michael Brown (ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence), Sir Clive Woodard (Former England Rugby Coach) and many other International and local ‘players’ in the industry.

Delegates included International visitors from Europe, Asia, USA and Africa to represent the large influence that ‘the beautiful game’ has on the world and its football loving public.

The Senior Team Players made their appearance at the stand on Monday 24th November. This was a big crowd puller and a media frenzy as fans and supporters made their way to the stand to catch a glimpse of, and take a photograph with their favourite player. The Convention Centre came to a virtual halt as the crowd amassed themselves around Kaizer Chiefs the stand.

Kaizer Chiefs were awarded the ‘Best Stand’ of the Exhibition at the Gala Dinner hosted at the Convention Centre on the 25th November. The double storey stand stood 5-6m high with a display of Kaizer Chiefs ‘Gold and Black’ accentuating photographic graphics designed by Kaizer Chiefs graphic Designer, Michelle Diamond, the stand was designed by Dubai International Murali Krishnan from Al Fajer and it was built by South African stand building company Rekopane. Kaizer Chiefs have been known to have the most beautifully created custom stand that stands out and represents the brand in its entirety as the stand last year and even at the previous year drew comments from all who visited the Amakhosi at the Convention Centre and in Dubai where the exhibition was previously held.

“The exhibition is a way for us to showcase the Kaizer Chiefs brand, it has global exposure and we meet up with some of our football friends from abroad. We have made some really good business connections over the years and have the platform to show people what this amazing football icon is all about as many International visitors want to see this Club called Kaizer Chiefs that they have heard so much about, we are there to represent our country and what it has to offer! As Kaizer Chiefs we set trends, the Soccerex exhibition is no different and we work very hard to make sure that our stand depicts the ‘Gold and Black’ in all its splendour, I am not surprised we won the ‘Best Stand’, it was beautiful!’

See you at Soccerex in 2009

Amakhosi-4-Life!