The Confederation of African Football (CAF) opened this Friday March 12 its 43e general assembly to appoint its new president, in Rabat, Morocco. And, unsurprisingly, it was the South African Patrice Motsepe, 59, candidate for Fifa, who was elected by acclamation, as authorized by the statutes of the African football body. Indeed, after months of negotiations, the three other contenders finally signed a pact placing them behind the billionaire. The president of Mamelodi Sundowns, his football club based in Pretoria, succeeds the Malagasy Ahmad Ahmad, suspended from his functions in the summer of 2019, before the end of his mandate, for several ethical violations, including the “distribution of gifts” and “embezzlement”. From a child of Soweto to the king of African football, who is Patrice Tlhopan Motsepe and what are the challenges that await him in a context of strong criticism vis-à-vis Fifa, his main support? The stake of his election is all the more important as the economy of football in Africa is in the process of metamorphosis.
Finally, the sacred union of African football?
Despite his relatively unknown profile in the sporting world outside South Africa, where he embodies the black South African elite that flourished after apartheid, Patrice Motsepe has succeeded in establishing himself through intense political negotiations. around what experts call “the Rabat agreement”. Desired by Fifa, it consisted in choosing Mr. Motsepe by consensus, the three other candidates, all presidents or former presidents of federations in their country – the Ivorian Jacques Anouma, the Senegalese Augustin Senghor and the Mauritanian Ahmed Yahya -, renouncing to stand in exchange for a post of advisor for the first and vice-presidents for the other two.
A program that questions
Tenth largest fortune in Africa, among the three richest South Africans with a heritage estimated at around 2.5 billion euros, according to the American magazine Forbes, the 59-year-old self-made man, with a well-groomed look, has made his fortune in mining and finance, but cultivates a certain discretion. After letting another officially announce his candidacy in November, isolated over suspicion of Covid-19, he observed media silence until his program was announced … two weeks ago. And, for any explanation on his motivations to commit to the head of CAF, the businessman and strategist simply said: “I love football. Stupid and irresponsible love. ”
Fifa pointed out for interference
Many were surprised by his brief knowledge of the challenges facing CAF for the next four years… But he benefited from the invaluable support of the president of the Nigerian federation, Amaju Pinnick, who introduced him to his colleagues. And above all, Gianni Infantino, boss of world football, pushed the South African’s candidacy, and many voices in Africa cry out for interference. “You all have the same vision, today is the celebration of this unity”, said the president of the International Football Federation (Fifa). “Together, we win (…), football is a team sport. The most important value of football is team spirit, ”he said in response to the movement of discontent raised by what some consider to be Fifa interventionism.
A few days ago, Anouma still considered “undemocratic” this “Rabat pact” a little imposed by Fifa, with the intervention in Rabat of the advisers of Gianni Infantino, the Congolese (DRC) Véron Mosengo-Omba, director of FIFA associations, and the Swede Mattias Grafström, deputy secretary general. But the Ivorian finally gave up on running in the name of « African unity ”. The Senegalese candidate, for his part, explained in a press release “accept the consensual proposal of Fifa (…) in the name of the best interests of the unity of African football”. Senghor presents the quadriumvirat as “a team, a team to raise African football”. For Motsepe, “African wisdom” played a role. Already for six months, in the second half of 2019, the placing under supervision of CAF, with the presence at the headquarters in Cairo (Egypt) of the secretary general of Fifa, the Senegalese Fatma Samoura, had bristled many members of the Confederation.
According to other observers, we should not exaggerate too much the intrusion of Fifa in African affairs. Already, its president Gianni “Infantino has other fish to fry between his legal affairs (in Switzerland) and the war with UEFA”, slips a source. And then “Fifa does not need to enter the administration of CAF to seek votes in Africa, it is the federations that vote”, indicated the Mauritanian candidate.
Put CAF back on the right track
Beyond this context, the stakes for African football are immense. As all the experts say, economic development remains the main challenge facing the South African leader, who must as a priority stem the bleeding of young people to European clubs but also attract more sponsors. CAF is embarrassed by the conflict with its former agency, Lagardère Sports, since it unilaterally broke, in December 2019, the contract which bound them until 2028. “We must strengthen CAF financially, and settle the issue of the marketing agent, ”Augustin Senghor told AFP. The Confederation finds itself in “a difficult dispute, and the benefits that we derived from its contracts are a little blocked. “According to a source close to the file quoted by AFP,” Motsepe has the preference of Fifa, who wants someone new, not involved in the old direction, to attract new sponsors, investors and give more beautiful image of CAF after all that has happened ”.
Challenges within the reach of the South African billionaire?
Indeed, Patrice Motsepe is recognized for his success in business. He grew up in the township of Soweto, near Johannesburg. His parents, traders, enroll him in a private Catholic school and allow him to continue at university, where he studies mining law, business and art. At the end of apartheid, he became the first black partner in a law firm in South Africa. Taking advantage of the new lease of life in the rainbow nation and the collapse of the gold price, he bought several mines at a good price in the late 1990s. In 1997, he created the African Rainbow Minerals Gold company. Limited, specialized in the extraction of copper, platinum, iron and coal.
But his fortune also allows him to afford a football club in 2004: the Mamelodi Sundows. The Pretoria team have since won an African Champions League in 2016 and won seven league titles in South Africa. The mining mogul also owns a 37% stake in the country’s most successful rugby team, the Pretoria Bulls.
But the overloaded schedule of this businessman makes people fear that he cannot invest himself fully with CAF. “He does not even have time to take care of his club”, regrets Bacary Cissé, editor of the Senegalese newspaper. Record. For him, Motsepe is “parachuted, but Fifa has made him a formidable weapon”. “But Fifa will not be able to handle him like a puppet or a yes-man, assures Mamadou Gaye, analyst of the program SuperSport Soccer Africa. Married, father of three boys, the businessman is also the brother-in-law of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. His sister Tshepo is married to the current head of state and his other sister Bridgette is the wife of Jeff Radebe, a member of the historic ruling African National Congress (ANC).
At the head of a foundation that bears his name, he pledged in 2013 to donate half of his fortune to charity as part of The Giving Pledge campaign launched by Warren Buffett. and Bill Gates. And the wealthy businessman has, like others, pledged a billion rand (55.7 million euros) to fight against the coronavirus pandemic in Africa.
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