The prize money Siyabonga Ngezana's FCSB has received from UEFA this season for their participation in European football has been confirmed.
The South African defender is edging ever so close to winning his first league title, with his side having a 13-point cushion at the top of the Romanian SuperLiga Play-off table with just six matches left to play.
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Ngezana is now almost guaranteed to win his first-ever senior title, having been trophyless in the seven years he spent in the Kaizer Chiefs first team.
Moreover, the club could qualify for the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League if they make it through the qualifying rounds. The tournament is set to have a new format comprising 36 teams playing in a league phase format.
If all goes well for Ngezana, he will be the first South African to play UCL football since Percy Tau did so for Belgian giants Club Brugge in the 2019/20 season.
The 26-year-old defender is yet to get a taste of European football competition, but he has come close, being named on the bench once during FCSB's unsuccessful run in the 2023/24 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers.
That journey lasted just four games, though, as the Romanian giants lost their third-round qualifier against Danish outfit Nordsjaelland.
However, that defeat was enough to secure them a sizeable payout from UEFA.
According to data platform Football Coefficient, the European football governing body has awarded FCSB with €750 000 (R15.1 million) in prize money for reaching the third round of the Conference League qualifiers.
The former Amakhosi star's stock has never been higher, with a March market value update pushing his worth up to €1.3 million (R26.2 million), per Transfermarkt.
Moreover, he has made 28 appearances in all competitions this term, ranking seventh in the squad in terms of minutes played.
It has been an incredible debut campaign in Europe for the centre-back, who left Chiefs with a battered reputation, having often been criticised by large sections of the club's fans.
More recently, though, the Sebokeng native made the headlines for failing to honour his call-up for Bafana Bafana in the March international break.
National team coach Hugo Broos said the player could not make it because he had lost his travel documents, leaving the star with no choice but to remain in Romania.
With diplomacy expert Botsang Moiloa having said he doesn't buy Ngezana's excuse as a passport is easy to replace given that South Africa has an embassy in the European country, some have speculated that the player may have taken issue with the fact he was not called up for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
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For now, though, his club FCSB need just six points to win their first league title since 2015.
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