Chiefs coach slams fixture schedule as Pirates skip CAF games

By Dylan Bettencourt

• Ben Youssef said Chiefs have played 15 Betway Premiership games while Orlando Pirates played 15 games without competing in CAF.

• Kaizer Chiefs beat Al Masry 2-1 on Sunday to top CAF Confederation Cup Group D despite having to play midweek league games.

Kaizer Chiefs co-head coach Khalil Ben Youssef has complained about his team’s fixture schedule.

He said Chiefs have been forced to play domestic league matches while competing in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Ben Youssef said other teams playing in Africa get to postpone their league fixtures, but not Chiefs.

He spoke to reporters after Chiefs beat Al Masry 2-1 on Sunday.

“It’s no excuses but reality. If you want to improve, you need to help your team,” he said. “We’re Kaizer Chiefs, but we’re representing South Africa. We did this last season. Some teams played their last five or six games in May.”

Ben Youssef then took a swipe at Orlando Pirates without naming them directly.

“This season we played 15 Betway Premiership games. Another team, I don’t want to say names, have played 15 games and they don’t play in Caf,” he said.

Pirates were knocked out of the CAF Champions League before the group stages.

Ben Youssef said in every country he has worked in, teams playing in CAF competitions are allowed to change their fixtures.

The win over Al Masry pushed Chiefs to the top of Confederation Cup Group D.

Chiefs have had to play domestic midweek fixtures before facing Zesco and Al Masry in their group matches.

This week they don’t have a league game but travel to Cairo to play Zamalek on Sunday.

Ben Youssef said only one of Chiefs’ home matches this year was played at FNB Stadium. Both CAF games were in Polokwane.

“We played four or five games away now,” he said. “We’re in a situation where we fly back tomorrow, we prepare in between games with no training sessions. We play, the next day it’s rest or recovery, then on match day minus one you can do nothing,” he said.

Ben Youssef reminded reporters that last season, Pirates were allowed to change their fixtures when they played in CAF.

“They played their last five games in May,” he said.

Pictured above: Kaizer Chiefs players celebrating.

Image source: @KaizerChiefs