Kaze disagrees with Motaung over Kaizer Chiefs target

Kaizer Chiefs Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jr seems not to be aligned with the club’s coaching staff over this season’s targets.

Motaung Jr insisted last week that the club is firmly looking to qualify for next season’s CAF Champions League, amid their struggles which have left them out of the title race in the PSL.

Qualifying for the Champions League would mean Chiefs must finish in the top two but those positions are currently held by both Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns, who are in a very tight title race with only goal difference separating them.

Kaizer Chiefs' Mduduzi Shabalala and Kaizer Motaung Jr. — Kaizer Chiefs’ Mduduzi Shabalala and Kaizer Motaung Jr. Photo: Kaizer Chiefs

Pirates and Sundowns are each on 47 points from 20 matches, 17 points ahead of sixth-placed Chiefs, who have two games in hand over them.

Motaung Jr on Champions League

That means Chiefs must overhaul either of the two title contenders to qualify for the Champions League but Motaung maintained that, that is the aim.

“We know we want to be in the CAF Champions League next year; we have certain targets we set for ourselves, evaluating where we are now, what needs to be done to get there and trust me, there’s a lot of work being done right now as we speak,” Motaung Jr said on the Chiefs Radio last week.

However, co-coach Cedric Kaze seems to disagree with that as he feels it would be unrealistic to be targeting for the Champions League given where they are on the table but would rather aim at the top three, which comes with CAF Confederation Cup qualification.

Kaze feels Chiefs’ target unrealistic

“On my part, we believe that to finish in the top three would be an amazing achievement, to finish top two would be a miracle and we are working everyday to finish as far as we can,” Kaze told the media on Thursday.

⚽️ Cedric Kaze says they have to be realistic about their target for the rest of the season.

Sporting Director wants CL. pic.twitter.com/Mbiot7qzOC
— Mazola J. Molefe (@superjourno) March 12, 2026

The Chiefs coach looks confident of securing a podium finish rather than chasing a top two place that appears out of reach given how far Pirates and Sundowns are.

Chiefs have lost their last four league games, seeing them drop from the title race and are now in sixth place, three points behind third-placed Sekhukhune United, who have 33 points from 20 matches, having played two games more than the Glamour Boys.