Sundowns face Chiefs in Charity Cup

By Sy Lerman

You could not have asked for a more intriguing first-round match-up in Saturday's three-game Telkom Cup charity extravaganza, with defending Premier Soccer League and tournament holders Mamelodi Sundowns drawn to play Kaizer Chiefs.

Orlando Pirates play Bloemfontein Celtic in the opening game at 9.30am after the predictable announcement of the four competing teams and the draw were made on Monday at Nasrec in Johannesburg.

The Sundowns-Chiefs blockbuster is scheduled for somewhere in the vicinity of noon, according to the organisers, with the final on the day of endless soccer and entertainment scheduled to be staged between 4.30pm and 5pm.

If there was no surprise over the four teams supposedly elected by a plethora of the popular vote, some eyebrows were raised over the announcement that Celtic had secured the most support with 303 757 votes, followed by Sundowns with 300 168, Pirates on 260 126 and Chiefs, who are widely credited with having the most followers in South Africa, placed fourth on 239 071.

The club who were closest to the "top four" bracket in the telephone and SMS voting glut were Black Leopards on 206 696.

But possibly a more realistic appraisal of how many votes were cast by genuine soccer supporters can be gauged from the fact that such a formidable club as SuperSport United mustered 151

votes, Santos secured 190 votes and Ajax Cape Town a fractional 290.

Telkom, however, have decreed that monies received in the voting procedure will swell the funds designated towards a charity target aimed to set a record in excess of R3,5-million.

And PSL CEO Trevor Phillips said it would be wise for detractors to place the voting procedure "in perspective" and realise the main function of the three-game bonanza - for which adult admission will be R35 - is to benefit the poor and the needy. - Sapa