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Cape Town - Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp is not best pleased that the Multichoice Diski Challenge now only allows under-21 players to take part.
The MDC games has been utilised in the past by coaches to get their first-team players back to full fitness after returning from injury or to rediscover their form.
However, a new rule has limited the MDC to players under the age of 21, which has removed Middendorp's ability to make use of the competitive football the league used to provide for his players returning to full match fitness.
"This is definitely a very huge handicap for all of us‚" said Middendorp, as quoted by TimesLive.
"I think not only players like Sizwe Twala or Happy Mashiane‚ who are out of this age range.
"It would be great like we now have done with Njabulo Blom and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo [both U-21]‚ getting them into training sessions with the MDC team‚ playing on the weekend.
"And if there were a possibility for saying two or three [overage players] at least‚ we definitely would play around with certain numbers to get it there.
"But there is a link missing in producing match-fit‚ competitive players.
"You can organise a match internally. But this is not the same as when you have a competitive league - by far not.
"This is definitely somewhere where we are missing something."
- TeamTalk Media
