Kaizer Chiefs sporting director Kaizer Motaung has revealed that Luke Fleurs was set to make his debut against Chippa United last weekend before his death.
Fleurs was shot and killed in a hijacking in Johannesburg last week. Fleurs, originally from Cape Town, had only just recently joined the club from SuperSport United at the midway point of the season.
“That is a crazy one and it is sad he didn’t get the chance. We are not only going to dedicate every game to Luke but also to our supporters and everyone who is behind the team,” said Motaung at Fleurs’ memorial service at FNB Stadium on Thursday.
“He would give his best at training, and unfortunately he couldn’t go out there and wear the jersey and show the people what he could for the club.
“He was going to play. Sifiso Hlanti didn’t travel with the team and the plan was [Edmilson] Dove was going to play left-back and Luke was going to start [at centreback]. He was definitely going to play.”
The Amakhosi players decided to still play the match against the Chilli Boys as, according to Motaung, the pervading view was that Fleurs would have wanted that. Meanwhile, the number 26 has been retired by the club in honour of the Ubuntu Academy Graduate. The Chiefs founder spoke on the matter of the match against Chippa going ahead.
“That came from the players themselves. There is no right or wrong at this point in time. We let them have the freedom to tell us how they feel and they said Luke would have wanted them on the pitch. The result was not what we wanted to take home but it was commendable from the players to play.”
” It was a no-brainer and we felt we want to use this as an opportunity to be able to deal with the bigger problem of crime in the country. That jersey will be hung up in the changing room. His chair will always be left empty and moving forward we are going to have many other things to honour Luke.
“Everyone had to understand the magnitude of this situation because this has never happened before at the football club. We are here on the day where we lost 43 of our fans at the Ellis Park disaster but there has never been a situation in our change room where someone’s life was taken away in this manner.
“If you listen to the stories about Luke from the day he signed he was generally happy and his dream was to wear the gold and black. It wasn’t about money but it was about the love for the team. I have always loved this team, the football and thanks God I am here.
“It is very rare to find a combination of a person who has the ability and intention and the supporters want people who play for the badge.”