As part of the process of making notable and meaningful changes at Kaizer Chiefs, the Club is delighted to announce the appointment of former player Kaizer Motaung Jr. as Amakhosi’s Sporting Director.

Kaizer Jr. will officially take up this new position on 1 July 2021.

Among many important responsibilities that the position entails, Kaizer Jr. will be driving increased levels of performance and effectiveness throughout all the areas of the Club’s Football Operations. He will work with the Head of Technical, Molefi Ntseki and Football Manager, Bobby Motaung as they promote a strong understanding of how each component of Football Operations can best support the First Team and Academy, as well as recruitment of players and technical staff at all levels.

Kaizer Jr. will also be responsible for engaging with Amakhosi’s wider business functions to fully align the Club’s operational vision and business model.

“We are really proud to have Kaizer Jr. take up this new role of Sporting Director,” says Chairman Kaizer Motaung. “The position could not have gone to a more suitable candidate when you look at his football training from a young age, as well as the fact that he obtained a B.Comm degree, a rare achievement for footballers under the age of 40. It was also important for us not to immediately rush him after his retirement as he needed time to adequately familiarize himself with the boardroom matters and equip himself with more education.”

As a youngster, Motaung Jr. played for Wits University and Kaizer Chiefs youth academies in South Africa. He went on to feature for Chelsea and TSV Munich 1860 juniors in England and Germany in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Motaung Jr. was promoted to the TSV 1860 Munich reserve team at the start of the 2001-2002 season where he spent two seasons.

He joined Kaizer Chiefs’ senior team in July 2003 and hung-up his boots in 2014 at the age of 32, after spending just over 10 years as an Amakhosi player.

After retirement he enrolled for a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm) degree with his core discipline being Financial Management at the internationally acclaimed Varsity College. He took a two-year sabbatical from his studies in 2016, but returned two years later to complete his degree, and graduated in May 2019.

“We really wish him well and we believe he will bring great new ideas to the table and work well with the team of professionals from Kaizer Chiefs’ Youth Development Academy to the senior team, plus additional functions including finance, human resources, marketing, communications and digital,” adds Chairman Motaung.

Kaizer Jr. has been hands-on at Naturena for the past two years working within the different departments and functions of the institution in order to gain deeper insights into how each division operates and identify areas of potential improvement.

“I am thankful to the Chairman, Ntate Motaung, for the honour and opportunity to serve the Club at this level. This appointment is a clear indication of his belief in my abilities, which I don’t take for granted” acknowledged Motaung Jr. “I am a student of the game and have remained one even after I hung up my boots in January 2014. I will work within the structure and ensure I play my part in ensuring that we take Kaizer Chiefs to new heights and reclaim our rightful position in African football.”

Apart from working within the Club’s structures, as Sporting Director Kaizer Jr. will also be the main liaison and representative with regard to football and sporting administrative bodies including PSL, SAFA, Sascoc, Cosafa, CAF and FIFA.

“I am looking forward to continuing to work with my colleagues. We need to maintain Kaizer Chiefs as a household name in world football and we’ve shown that it can be done after reaching the CAF Champions League final for the first time. Our task will be ensuring that there are proper and solid structures in place from U13, U15, U17, U19, Reserves, up to the Senior Team,” concluded Kaizer Jr.

We wish Kaizer Jr. all the best in his role as Sporting Director and look forward to his new ideas and significant contribution to further success of Kaizer Chiefs.