“Kaizer Chiefs need time and planning to reach Sundowns level” – Bobby Motaung

Photo Credit - Kaizer Chiefs.

Kaizer Chiefs Football Manager Bobby Motaung has admitted that the club will need time to reach the level attained by league winners Mamelodi Sundowns.

Sundowns were crowned last season’s Betway Premier League champions, qualifying for the 2025/26 CAF Champions League – a competition they lost to Egypt side Pyramids in the finals last term.

The Brazilians’ impressive performance at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup courted massive debate in South Africa and the continent at large.

Motaung, whose Kaizer Chiefs finished in ninth with 32 points in last season’s Betway Premier League, says the AmaKhosi will need time to reach a very high level again.

"That's been the passion, the joy of being part of Kaizer Chiefs. That's been the vision, that's why you saw what happened after winning the Nedbank Cup, what can you do when you're in that stage," Motaung said on 947's MSW.

"But it's not a sprint, it takes time, it takes proper planning. It's a journey, it takes structures as well. That's why you need stability, you need to plan properly. These things don't just happen overnight.

"We're back in Africa now after so many years. I mean we lost the CAF Champions League in the final during Covid, that thing was traumatic and we lost the league in Covid with a draw, that trauma to come from is not an overnight switch, to lose at that level with the ambition of reaching higher levels...it took a lot of time for us to really get things back," he added.

Sundowns qualified for the Club World Cup via the rankings path, with one more spot available in Africa, as Al Ahly won three of the last four editions of the CAF Champions League, which were under consideration by FIFA.

Only the Red Devils and Wydad Casablanca went to the global tournament as previous winners of the CAF Champions League.