Football
Nick Said, Special to ESPN 7y

MTN8 quarterfinals have significance beyond big pay-day

The completion of the 2016/17 league season in South Africa means the match-ups in the quarterfinals of the lucrative MTN8 competition in the next campaign are now known.

The MTN8 is the first piece of silverware on offer in the 2017/18 season and comes with a hefty R8-million (approximately US$600,000) first prize, a fortune considering the league winners over a 30-game season win just R2-million more than that.

KweséESPN understands that the MTN8 quarterfinals will take place on the weekend of August 5/6, with the league campaign set to kick-off on August 8/9.

The MTN8 sees the top eight sides from the previous campaign enter the competition. The 2017 tournament has holders and league champions Bidvest Wits host Lamontville Golden Arrows, Mamelodi Sundowns entertain Maritzburg United, Cape Town City welcome Polokwane City and Kaizer Chiefs take on SuperSport United.

Soweto giants Orlando Pirates have failed to qualify for the MTN8 competition for the first time in 30 years.

The quarterfinals are played as a single match, but traditionally the semifinals have been played over two legs, with the final reverting back to a single showdown for the loot.

Aside from the money on offer, there will also be other sideshows to this year's event. There is mounting pressure on Chiefs coach Steve Komphela, and should he survive the close-season, the MTN8 presents another, and perhaps last, opportunity to win a first trophy of his career - and a first for Chiefs since they won the league in 2015.

The current two-season spell without silverware matches the most barren period in the club's 47-year history and should it go on longer, Komphela's career prospects at Naturena look dim.

Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has already suggested he will field a weakened squad in the competition, but the lure of an 'easy' R8-million could change his mind come the time.

Polokwane are entering the tournament for the first time in their history, Maritzburg for the second, and Golden Arrows reappear for the first time since they lifted the trophy in 2009.

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