The pressure was too much for me at Kaizer Chiefs

MANY pundits and football followers felt Khama Billiat leaving Kaizer Chiefs to join Yadah Stars in the Zimbabwean league was a sign that he was a spent force.

Perhaps, they had every right to believe so. Kaizer Chiefs are an African football giant, yet Yadah Stars only gained their first top-flight ticket in 2016. They are yet to achieve any major honours in the local league but can boast of playing at their own facility, The Heart Stadium.

Chiefs were keen to extend Billiat’s contract at the time he left, but the player went AWOL for weeks before he decided to part ways with the club. Billiat had, up to now, kept his silence on the full details of his departure from Amakhosi until recently, when speaking on MhlengiSports YouTube Channel. The Warriors international revealed the reason he left Kaizer Chiefs.

“Look, negotiations always go either way. I felt like it was time for me to move back home. They wanted me to stay, but I don’t think I was mentally strong enough to take another season again. With all the injuries I was getting, all the pressure I was getting. It was frustrating. It was frustrating, I think, because I wanted to play so much and I wanted to contribute so much, but yeah, I would have loved to stay, but negotiations did not go well.

“I didn’t mind the salary cut, I appreciate it. I would have stayed, but I just felt like the pressure was too much for me to take, a lot was going on. I was not sure if I would be injury-free had I stayed for another season and also with the social media pressure it was not easy. I am the only one person, so I couldn’t take so much, and it got to a point where most of the time I was not myself even when I was at home because there was so much to deal with. So yeah, I apologise about what happened during that time of negotiations and salary cut issues. It was just a lot for me.”

Since moving to Yadah this season, Billiat has managed to rediscover his form and is the joint-leading scorer with twelve goals plus several assists.
Billiat began his football journey with Aces Youth Soccer Academy before joining CAPS United in 2010. His impressive skills quickly earned him a move to Ajax Cape Town in South Africa, where he made his professional debut on August 20, 2010.

At Ajax, he scored 24 goals in 83 appearances, catching the attention of European scouts, including Lokomotiv Moscow, where he had a trial in 2013. In the same year, he joined Sundowns on a five-year contract and helped the team win several titles, including the Premier Soccer League, Nedbank Cup, Telkom Knockout, and Caf Champions League.

**Khama Billiat with his Kaizer Chiefs teammates during the Carling Cup**

In 2018, Billiat signed a three-year deal with Kaizer Chiefs, making his competitive debut against his former club, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Billiat received several awards in South Africa, including the PSL Player of the Season, PSL Players’ Player of the Season, and PSL Midfielder of the Season in 2016.

Billiat recently came out of international football and was on target for the national team last week when Zimbabwe won 1-0 against Namibia in an Afcon 2025 qualifying campaign encounter at Orlando Stadium in South Africa. —@innocentskizoe