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Cape Town - Bidvest Wits CEO Jose Ferreira says the CAF Confederations Cup is not an important competition for the club.
Wits qualified for the continental competition by virtue of finishing in third place in the Absa Premiership last season.
But Ferreira has explained that by winning the tournament, they would only break even on the costs of competing in the tournament, when you take in to account travel and accommodation, and thus it is not a 'priority' for the Clever Boys.
"I’ve discussed it with the coach – the CAF Champions League will always be an important competition for this club; CAF Confederation Cup is not a priority for this club," said Ferreira.
"Taking into account our financial resources and our ability to bring in further players to have a bigger squad to compete in the CAF competitions, the Confederation Cup will not be a priority for us. We will be primarily focussing on domestic competitions [this season]."
The Students' executive officer then cited the example of SuperSport United, who made it all the way to the final in 2017, but ended up spending more than they received back in prize money, not to mention the physical toll that travel and extra games takes on the players.
"The costs of the Confederation Cup are a lot bigger than the costs of participating in the CAF Champions League – most of you will understand what I mean when I say that,” he added.
"Yet, the prize money as you progress in the competition is like a fifth of what you get playing in the Champions League.
"The reality is that, you take a SuperSport United scenario where they went all the way to the final, and the money that they got from that was less than their costs of participating – quite apart from the sporting consequences that it brought about by them going to the final.
"So, it’s not a priority and I’ve explained that to the coach. Yes, we will go out there, like the coach says – he doesn’t throw games; we’ll go into every match with the intention of winning, but it is not a priority.
"And, if and when we participate in the CAF Champions' League – hopefully next season – we’ll have a full go at winning it, like we’ve done in the past.
"But the CAF Confederation Cup can’t be a priority for a club of our stature. There are clubs in South Africa that are better resourced to participate in that kind of competition."
