SAFA Confirms ABC Motsepe National Playoffs Venue Change

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has confirmed that the 2024/25 ABC Motsepe League National Playoffs have been moved to a different venue as they were initially set to be staged in Ekurhuleni.

The event was scheduled to take place at Tsakane Stadium from Tuesday, 1-8 July, with the amateur league stream winners across the nine different provinces set to battle it out for a spot in the professional ranks.

While other provinces are yet to confirm their representatives, the draw for the national playoffs was conducted at the SAFA house in Nasrec, Johannesburg, on Tuesday, with seven teams confirming their participation in the competition so far.

Due to pending legal stand-offs, only seven provinces have confirmed winners: Kakamas Juventus (Northern Cape), Midlands Wanderers (KwaZulu-Natal), African Warriors (Free State), The Bees (Mpumalanga), FC Ravens (Eastern Cape), and Sunrise FC (Limpopo).

In Gauteng, Gomora United were crowned champions at the expense of Highlands Park, who were docked 62 points and relegated after they were found guilty of the ineligibility of Nigerian forward Franklin Ogbonna, who allegedly used fraudulent visa documents.

Moreover, the Northwest is awaiting a verdict from the arbitration on Friday, with Thames FC in pole position to represent the province should they get a favorable decision. Meanwhile, the Western Cape is yet to be decided with the provincial decider set to be replayed following a court ruling.

With the playoffs set to be played in a round-robin format on the same dates, Soshanguve Giant Stadium, in Pretoria, will now host the group stages, while Lucas Moripe Stadium will stage the semi-finals and the final of the national spectacle.

This comes after SAFA and the Motsepe Foundation requested the Ekurhuleni Municipality to keep Tsakane in good condition during the initial inspections, but a decision was taken to move the playoffs to the capital after the relevant officials were unsatisfied during their visit to the venue this week.

In this year’s national playoffs, three teams will be promoted to the Motsepe Foundation Championship, following the expulsion of Royal AM, who have been booted out of the PSL, courtesy of their financial woes.

FULL ABC MOTSEPE LEAGUE NATIONAL PLAYOFFS DRAW

Group A

The Bees [Mpumalanga]

Midland Wanderers [KZN]

Western Cape

Group B

Gomora United [Gauteng]

FC Ravens [Eastern Cape]

African Warriors [Free State]

Group C

Sunrise FC [Limpopo] 

Northwest

Kakamas Juventus [Northern Cape]