Cape Town City FC chairman, John Comitis, is certain that “South Africa Football is in good hands”.
Comitis was talking after the five consecutive DStv Diski Challenge (DDC) Festivals in January and February that were played in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, and Western Cape.
The country’s crème de la crème showcased their talents and that was followed by a promotion of 12 players from Diski Challenge to respective clubs first teams.
Comitis praised the Diski Challenge initiative, which has proven to be a crucial component of the South African developmental structures.
“I’m very impressed (by the youngsters in this DDC), the football out there is fantastic I can tell you South African football is in good hands,” The Citizens chairman said while watching one of the festival matches at Idas Valley Stadium.
“There are some players coming through, Sundowns have been outstanding, we need this kind of initiative (Diski Challenge), and credit to DStv for having a vision to create this league for us. It has been tremendous for South African football; everybody gets a chance to see the up-and-coming future of SA football.”
He went on: “You can see a few of the players in our Diski Challenge squad have been training with the first team. You get to find one or two players in the community, you bring them through, all of a sudden you see them standing up. I’ve got players here coming through for the next four five years.”
Another highlight during the festivals was the turnout of fans at the stadium. In one of the weekends the Diski Challenge amassed a record attendance of over 18 000 fans.
“The attendance is also fantastic. It is encouraging. We need this (crowd) also in the PSL level, so credit to DStv, added proud Comitis.
The Diski Challenge matches are currently taking place at different venues around the country every weekend.
The next festival will take place on the weekend of 23-24 March at Tsakane Stadium.