Rele was already a shining star

With youth development increasingly central to the future of South African football, few initiatives have had as significant an impact as the DStv Diski Challenge.

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At the heart of these programmes is MultiChoice, whose investment in grassroots and youth sport continues to shape the country’s football pipeline. Soccer Laduma had an in-depth discussion with MultiChoice CSI Manager for Sports Programmes, Sandile Luthuli, to unpack the vision behind these initiatives, the role they play in sustaining the local game, and how platforms like the Diski Challenge are helping fast-track the next generation of professional footballers.

The idea is that moving from academy football into professional football should no longer be an anomaly, but something that happens regularly if the talent and discipline are there.

MQ: There has been debate around footballers’ salaries in South Africa. From your perspective, are players earning enough to secure their futures after football?