Kaizer Chiefs have officially confirmed the appointment of Kaizer Motaung Jnr as the club’s new sporting director.
The 39-year-old will officially take up his new position on 1 July.
Motaung Jnr played for Wits University and Kaizer Chiefs youth academies as well as featuring for Chelsea and TSV Munich 1860 juniors in England and Germany in the late 90s and early 2000s, respectively.
The former striker was then promoted to the TSV 1860 Munich reserve team at the start of the 2001-02 season where he spent two seasons before joining Amakhosi’s senior team in July 2003.
He then called time on his playing career in 2014 after spending just over 10 years at Chiefs. However, after his retirement, he enrolled for a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm) degree with his core discipline being financial management at the internationally acclaimed Varsity College, where he later completed his degree and graduated in May 2019.
Speaking on Motaung Jnr’s appointment, club chairman Kaizer Motaung said: “We are really proud to have Kaizer Jnr take up this new role of sporting director.
“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 familiarise himself with the boardroom matters and equip himself with more education.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Kaizer Jnr is relishing the chance to continue helping the club develop as a household name across the world and to ensure they promote the necessary structures at every club level.
“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 Jnr.
“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.
“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 Jnr.
