After spending three weeks in Türkiye, the Kaizer Chiefs senior team will return to South Africa on Wednesday afternoon to continue their pre-season training in preparation for the start of the 2024/25 PSL season.

The first leg of the trip began on 4 July. After landing in Istanbul, the team travelled to Izmir, where they spent just over a week involved in intense training. The second part of the camp saw the team move back to Istanbul for further training and play a couple of practice matches matches.

The two training matches saw the team take on Qatari club, Al Shahaniya from Qatar, which Chiefs won 5 – 2, followed by a 0-0 draw against Al Dibba Al Hisn from UAE.

Amakhosi’s new coach, Nasreddine Nabi joined the team in Türkiye after concluding his contractual obligations at the end of the season in Morocco. He joined the team with the rest of his technical team, made up of assistant coaches Khalil Ben Youssef and Fernando Da Cruz, goalkeeper coach Ilyes Mzoughi as well as strength and conditioning coach who will also serve as an assistant, Safi Majdi.

“We are satisfied with how our preparations have gone so far,” confirms Sporting Director, Kaizer Motaung Jr. “It has not been easy, but the boys showed their tenacity and mental strength. Being away from family and friends in a foreign country is never easy but we came together as a team and did it.”

During the camp, two players Edmilson Dove and Bongani Sam suffered injuries that forced them to travel back to South Africa for treatment and recovery.

“The team and the coaches will continue to work on the new season’s preparations because we need to ensure that we are ready to compete when the season starts,” adds Motaung Jr. “We know it’s not going to be easy and it will take a bit of time, but we do know that supporters will journey with us as we try and get back on track.”

The team received a courtesy visit from the South African Ambassador to Türkiye, Ms Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, who wished the team well. In a reciprocal gesture, Kaizer Chiefs Marketing and Commercial Director, Jessica Motaung, visited the Turkish high commission in South Africa, where she met with Turkish Ambassador Ayşegül Kandaş.

“We are happy that the both Ambassadors Letsatsi-Duba and Kandas welcomed us with open arms both in Pretoria and in Türkiye,” she says, “We do hope that to have more collaborations and working together between the two countries in sport and other areas of business, including tourism.”

The team will touch down at OR Tambo international Airport later this afternoon after flying in from Istanbul, one of the world’s most famous cities, known at various times in history as Byzantium and Constantinople.

They will spend a few days in Johannesburg before going down to the City of Roses to face Tanzanian giants, Young Africans in the inaugural Toyota Cup. The game will take place on Sunday at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein.

Tickets for the Toyota Cup are available at TicketPro outlets for R40 in the open stands and R60 for the grand stand.