This week, Derrick Moite, a longtime supporter of the Chiefs Chairman’s old team in the United States, the Atlanta Chiefs, visited Kaizer Motaung, the chairman of the Kaizer Chiefs.
With his connection with both the Atlanta Falcons and the Kaizer Chiefs, Moite was present to present the Chiefs Chairman with a specially commissioned artwork, explaining its significance as he did so.
“I wanted to develop something for the Chairman that would connect his time spent with the Atlanta Chiefs in the past with his current team.
Therefore, I commissioned a friend of mine in Ghana to create this artwork that represents the Chairman’s history with the Atlanta Chiefs and what he has accomplished with the Kaizer Chiefs, ” Moite informed of the significance of his unique gift.
The Chiefs Chairman, who was visibly moved upon receiving the gift, continued, “I also had players from Ghana at Atlanta United.
There is a connection between the squad and Ghana, which heightens the gesture’s symbolic meaning. Derrick has my utmost gratitude for honouring me in this manner.
The Chairman and his Atlanta Chiefs teammates, according to Moite, were crucial in 1968 in uniting a city that was still reeling from the murder of US civil rights activist Martin Luther King.
“I came to thank you because 1968 was a challenging year for Atlanta with the implementation of desegregation and the city experiencing a lot.
You and your teammates entered the neighbourhood and aided in bringing the various groups together.
The words of Moite, a recipient of the Atlanta Chiefs’ late 1960s community outreach initiatives, further moved the Chiefs Chairman.
“Phil Woosnam, our coach, made sure we went out and worked to build bridges between people.
Because of the lessons I took away from Atlanta about bringing people together and working toward unity, I felt called to form my own team in South Africa.
Based on those tenets of using football to unite all people, regardless of their backgrounds,” the Chiefs Chairman said.
Moite would also like to see the Chiefs take on Atlanta United, who are a current Major League Soccer team.
“I’ll try to arrange a match between United and Kaizer Chiefs. Over the past many years, I’ve pushed to encourage Atlanta’s sports community to acknowledge the Chiefs’ prior accomplishments.
Due to the Chairman, Atlanta Chiefs have somewhat survived thanks to a game between Kaizer Chiefs and Atlanta Chiefs, which will aid in this, said Moite.
The Chiefs Chairman was given the last say.
“I thank Derrick for recording and preserving all of these significant aspects of my history and the history of the Atlanta Chiefs. In Atlanta, I made some wonderful memories that are very significant to me.
Moite also mentioned that the Chiefs chairman turned down a million-dollar contract to stay in the USA in order to start his own team in South Africa. He promised to look into the specifics of that story and reveal them during his subsequent visit to Naturena.
