Carling Black Label Champion Cup would like congratulate the six players from Soweto giants Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs who have been selected to represent South Africa at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next month.
The Chiefs pair, Itumeleng Khune and Eric Mathoho, along with the Pirates quartet of Abbubaker Mobara, Gift Motupa, Repo Malepe and Thabiso Kutumela (standby) will be part of the South African football squad that seeks to bring back gold from Rio.
An agreement has been reached with the South African Football Association that Khune and Mathoho will join the national team in Brazil after the 2016 Carling Black Label Champion Cup against Orlando Pirates at FNB Stadium on Saturday, 30 July, thus allowing them to take part in the prestigious event.
However, the four Pirates players will leave with the rest of the South African squad on 23 July and will not be available for selection for the Carling Black Label Champion Cup.
“We would like to congratulate all six players on their selection for the South African squad to fly the country’s flag in Brazil. It is an honour to represent your country on any occasion but the rich history of the Olympic Games makes the pursuit of a gold medal all the more thrilling,” says Vijay Govindsamy, General Manager of Carling Black Label.
“We understand that some Pirates fans may be disappointed not to see their heroes in action at the FNB Stadium on 30 July but we at Carling Black Label are fully behind the national side that is heading to South America and see this as a great celebration of these young players’ talent. We wish the team everything of the best, not just the players from Chiefs and Pirates. We are fully behind their pursuit of the gold medal and look forward to seeing the players back at the Carling Black Label Champion Cup next year,” Govindsamy added.
Goalkeeper Khune and central defender Mathoho have been selected as two of the three ‘over-age’ players that are allowed to compete in the Under-23 tournament, bringing not only incredible ability in their positions, but experience earned with a combined 105 caps for the senior national team.
The duo have been a fan favourite ever since joining Chiefs and have received millions of votes over the past few years in the Carling Black Label Champion Cup.
Khune has played in four previous Carling Black Label Champion Cup matches and has received more votes than anybody in the history of the campaign. Mathoho played in the 2013 and 2014 fixtures against Pirates, but missed last year through injury.
Mobara, Motupa and Malepe are part of the 18-man South Africa squad that has been chosen by Coach Owen da Gama for Brazil, while Kutumela is one of four standby players selected to travel, but who can only be used in the event of injury to another member of the original squad. The players will get an early test of their skills in South Africa’s opener at the competition against Brazil, who have already indicated they will select superstar Neymar from Barcelona in their team.
Fans can still have an opportunity to influence the outcome of the day and the starting line-up, by the power of selection in their hands. Consumers can do this by purchasing a Carling Black Label beer and dialling *120*664*.
And then enter their unique code found on the underside of the bottle cap and the # sign (with no spaces in between), and they can then choose the players they would like to see start. The voting will be closed on midnight, 26 July 2016.
Those supporters who cast their votes can win great prizes, including a share of R3-million worth of airtime, match tickets to the showpiece event on 30 July and, best of all, a coach’s experience with either Orlando Pirates or Kaizer Chiefs on match day.
