Belgrade awaits for Citizens who shine
INDUSTRIOUS businessman John Comitis has put pen to paper for a working relationship between his club Cape Town City FC and leading Serbian football outfit FK Partizan.
The Belgrade-based club have for many years flown under the radar of European football spotlight. However, many of their players have graduated from their ranks to some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Yesterday, the ambitious Citizens took to their social media platforms with the news of the partnership.
City's social media post read: “FK Partizan's ground-breaking cooperation with Cape Town City Football Club is underway, as the delegation from Belgrade visits South Africa for the first time.
The cooperation will see many elite African talents move to Europe in the coming years.”
Last week, Comitis said there were major developments underway at his club after he announced the signing of coach Eric Tinkler, who has returned for a second stint at the club in the Mother City. Tinkler was signed after City parted ways with the Dutch coach Jan Olde Riekerink, who was appointed following the sacking of Benni
McCarthy in 2019.
Comitis has worked wonders since 2016 when he bought the PSL franchise Mpumalanga Black Aces and relocated the team to Cape Town.
The partnership with Black-Whites means that the door will be open for City's players to trade using the Serbian connection and enjoy exposure to lucrative European markets. In the past, City have had links with European clubs and landed lucrative contracts for Gift Links, Lebogang Manyama and Peter Leeuwenburgh. Comitis had ties with FK Partizan over a decade ago when he was a director at Ajax Cape Town.
He arranged for Guinea-born Seydouba Soumah to move to FK Partizan after working out at Ajax Cape Town's academy. Soumah went on to make 33 appearances for the Guinea national team.
The domestic season might now be in recess, but there is a mouthwatering match-up for City at the start of the new season later this year.
The final log positions of the recently-concluded DStv Premiership mean that City, who finished in seventh place, will play second-placed AmaZulu, coached by former coach McCarthy in the first round of the the MTN8.