On Thursday, Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena took the opportunity to honor Dr. Patrice Motsepe, the billionaire owner of the club, in a birthday message. In his message, Mokwena suggested that the South African football fraternity does not appreciate Dr. Motsepe enough for his contributions to the sport.
Sundowns’ dominance of South African football has caused mixed reactions, with some claiming that their success is due to their financial power. This has caused some to call for the introduction of Financial Fair Play Regulations, used by UEFA to prevent clubs from spending more than they earn. However, Mokwena believes that these critics are not seeing the bigger picture of how Dr. Motsepe is keeping professional football alive in the country.
“South African football is in a space where, for sure there was a lot of hard work that was done by, a lot of credit needs to go to Dr. Khoza, Dr. Kaizer Motaung for the incredible work that they have done for South African football and to put it at the level it is at,” said Mokwena in a press conference. “But the life beat and the pulse at the moment, without the Motsepe Foundation, for sure if you look at PSL with regards to the clubs, talk whatever you wanna talk about financial fair play.”
Mokwena went on to explain that clubs need to pay for their star players, such as Themba Zwane and Neo Maema, in order to acquire their services. He believes that Dr. Motsepe’s financial contributions to South African football should be appreciated as it keeps the sport alive in the country.
