Safa Cape Town will in the coming weeks probably make a ruling which could see the prestigious Engen Knockout Challenge take a new direction.
This under-18 football tournament for boys and the fairer sex has for the previous two decades been one of the flagship events on the football calendar.
However, the controversy that played out during the 2023 edition of this event in Langa which was hosted by Wanderers FC, will surely force the mother body to relook at the criteria for clubs to apply for the rights to host.
This follows after the South African Football Association (Safa) pulled rank on sponsors due to the lack of respect shown to the custodian of football in the country.
The big corporate – who has backed this competition for years now with its financial muscle – undermined Safa by negotiating directly with clubs and not the footballing Mother Body
Luckily, sanity prevailed for the sponsor and the show could go on. No Bones with Jones has been informed that the region themselves might consider the option of taking charge and hosting the event themselves.
There are also ongoing talks that perhaps an LFA should forward their proposals to be nominated as host of this popular annual competition.
Perhaps the Rygate LFA, which has the infrastructure, capacity and skillset could potentially not be a bad place to start should the region decide to go the LFA-route.
After all, Rygate has hosted many big events such as the Spar Mookrey Group’s Cubs which has close to 10 000 players and fans coming through their gates over five days.
Rygate also hosts the annual Veterans tournaments where over 100 clubs participate in this event catered for the stars of yesteryear.
Recently the Johnson Road Sports Complex also played host to the playoffs for the Cape Town City’s Dream Club 100.
