Chiefs’ opponents Magic FC to share prizemoney with their amateur players

Magic FC’s players are guaranteed a share of half of the R250‚000 the club will win as prizemoney for reaching the last-16 stage of the Nedbank Cup‚ as motivation for the club’s promotion push to the National First Division (NFD).

If the ABC Motsepe League (third division) team cause a major upset and advance to the quarterfinals by beating Kaizer Chiefs at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Sunday‚ the players will share half of R450‚000.

Magic’s co-owner George Dearnaley‚ the former Bafana Bafana and AmaZulu striker‚ said the players will receive half of the prizemoney for whichever round they can progress to.

“We have decided to give the players half of whatever money we are going to get from the Nedbank Cup and we have made it clear that it is to motivate them to push for promotion in the league because that is our bread and butter‚” Dearnaley said.

“We will surely give this match against Chiefs our all but the players are fully aware that our priority is the league.

“The prizemoney for finishing in the last-16 stage is R200‚000 but teams from the third division get an extra R50‚000 as an added incentive.

“If we progress to the next stage‚ which is something we really want to do‚ the prizemoney will substantially increase but the most important thing for us is to finish top in the league.”

Magic FC are currently placed in second spot on the ABC Motsepe League in the Western Cape behind Steenberg United‚ who have seven more points‚ but have played one more game.

“We are also due to take a little bit of money from the gate takings and part of it will go to the players too‚ and we believe this is the best way to thank them for their efforts in this tournament and also motivate them to finish the season strong‚” Dearnaley said.

“The PSL only pays for 18 players for the trip to Port Elizabeth but we have decided to pay for the other five players of the 23 in our squad because we want them to be part of this experience.”

Telkom Knockout prizemoney -

• Winner – R7-million
• Runner-up – R2.5-million
• Semifinalists – R1-million
• Quarterfinalists – R400‚000
• Last 16 – R200‚000
• Last 32 – R100‚000