Bidvest Wits will return to continental football this season, but Jose Ferreira, the club CEO, has made a dramatic revelation about coach Gavin Hunt's mandate for the CAF Confederation Cup.
The Clever Boys have to wait to know who they will face in the inter-club tournament, which is a little less prestigious – but still credible – than the CAF Champions League, though Ferreira said it wouldn't be a priority.
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He explained to the media on Friday: "I have discussed this with the coach. The CAF Champions League will always be an important competition for this club, but the CAF Confederation Cup is not a priority for this club – taking into account our financial resources and our ability to bring in more players to participate in this competition. It will not be a priority for us. We will primarily be focusing on domestic competitions."
Ferreira said point blank that the Confederation Cup was not lucrative enough for Wits to take the tournament seriously.
"The costs of the Confederation Cup are a lot bigger than the costs of participating in the Champions League. Yet the prize money you get the further you go is like a fifth of playing in the Champions League. Take the SuperSport United scenario, where they went all the way to the final (in 2017), but the money that they got was less than their costs of participating. Yes, we will go out there and not throw games, but it is not a priority. But if we are in the Champions League, we will have a full go at winning it. There are clubs that are better resourced to participate in that competition."
Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates will be SA's representatives in the Champions League, while NFD outfit TS Galaxy is another team taking part in the Confederation Cup alongside Wits.
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