Milford Xanti Pupuma says cup money and CAF chance a bonus

The KwaZulu-Natal side produced one of the shocks of the quarterfinals when they defeated Betway Premiership outfit Sekhukhune United to secure a place in the semifinals for the first time in the club’s history.

The tournament winners also qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup, but Pupuma joked that travelling across the continent can be expensive for smaller clubs. 

"Actually I haven't thought that far but my goodness I'm not sure I wanna be there as a chairperson as travelling costs a lot of money. If it happens, it happens, I'm sure we'll find a way to address it,” Pupuma said. 

“I don't wanna think too much about winning the cup. Let's address the next opponent and see how that goes. It's very exciting to play cup football. I think it's a day that we generally enjoy, especially if we win. 

“For me, I'm happy, I'm happy for the boys that they get to experience this. Some of the boys signed with us when we were in a very low division and some were 16, 17, they've grown into men and for them to experience this with the badge it's great, it's really satisfying for me. What we get after that, the money, the CAF, it's just a bonus, we are already having fun."

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There is also substantial prize money on offer in the Nedbank Cup, with the champions set to collect R7 million. 

The runners-up will earn R2.5 million, while each losing semifinalist receives R1 million.

Despite those figures, Pupuma laughed when asked about the financial side of the competition, explaining that his primary responsibilities are coaching the team and overseeing the club as chairman. 

He joked that he has not even taken the time to check exactly how much money they stand to gain.

"I actually have no idea how much is at stake, there is someone that is into that within the structure of the team. My concern is the coaching part, yes I am the chairperson but I'm just a chairperson, there are people within the structure that run the system and they do my job as a chairperson so that I can focus on the coaching,” he explained.

“So, I had no idea. How much are we gonna get? Ohhh, we can do with a million."