PSL approves club's relocation

SABC Sport can reveal that the Premier Soccer League has approved the official relocation of a second-tier club as well as a name change.

Cape Town All Stars will now move to Johannesburg and start the newly branded Motsepe Foundation Championship (National First Division) as All Stars FC and under a new coach, Sinethemba Badela.

According to information gathered by SABC Sport, chairman Lunga Ncwana has got big plans for the outfit and is understood to have also roped in Morgan Mamilla, who has been at top-flight club Chippa United for about two years now.

All Stars finished in third place last season and went into the promotion play-offs in a round-robin league, alongside AmaTuks and Swallows FC, but missed out in the end with the Dube Birds retaining their DStv Premiership status.

But there is belief in Badela to steer them to new heights now that he™s taken over from coach Allan Freese, and the club is expected to make official announcements before the Motsepe Foundation Championship gets underway in September.

It is also understood that talks are ongoing with the players regarding their willingness to relocate to Gauteng, while some have already been offloaded.

SABC Sport made attempts to get comment from Mamilla on the scope of his new role at All Stars, as he too will now relocate, but he was unavailable at the time of publishing.

Chippa United also confirmed the search for a new coach after placing Kurt Lentjies on œspecial leave despite him being in charge since December last year when Gavin Hunt was fired by the Gqeberha outfit.

By Mazola Molefe