Kaizer Chiefs Marketing Director Jessica Motaung has explained why they chose the City of Roses as the venue for the inaugural Toyota Cup amid talk of the revival of Bloemfontein Celtic.
Marumo Gallants' relocation to Bloemfontein as a Premiership team has sparked rumours that the club could be renamed back to Celtic, who exited top-flight football three years ago having sold their status to Royal AM.
READ: Ex-Downs striker top-scoring abroad again
Even before Gallants relocated to Bloem as a Motsepe Foundation Championship club, there were reports that Siwelele could come back to the PSL via a collaboration with Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila, who also relocated to the Free State at almost the same time as their Limpopo rivals early last year.
Celtic supporters are also up in arms, insofar as having a team in the elite division is concerned, as they are openly against supporting Bahlabane Ba Ntwa, if the Limpopo outfit does not retain some form of Siwelele officially on their books.
Bafana Bafana continued the trend to move matches to the Free State after they hosted Zimbabwe at the Free State Stadium, in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier last month, gracing the stadium for the first time since the 2010 World Cup.
Chiefs have followed suit, after they announced on Monday that the inaugural Toyota Cup will be played at that venue against Young Africans on 28 July.
Motaung explained why.
"Bloemfontein is home away from home for us, it is a place where we have such a huge support base and also Bloemfontein has not had a lot of football," Motaung said at the Toyota Cup launch in Sandton.
"We were pleased to see the Bafana game doing so well, we're just excited to bring football back to Bloem, also celebrating Ntate [Petrus] Molemela, Celtic and what they have represented in South African football and say thank you to them.
READ | Confirmed: Brazil make decision on coach after Copa failure
"And how can we grow football in Bloemfontein and make sure we give the game back to our people. We want to improve the economy of Bloemfontein and make things really exciting there."
At the launch, it was also announced that Chiefs legends will pit their skills against Celtic legends.