The SA billionaire has been credited with turning the organisation around – after it had suffered decades of corruption, financial woes, and poor governance – to now being financially stable and attracting sponsors.
Motsepe revealed that his strategy – not taking a salary and bonuses and redirecting those funds to CAF staff – played a huge role in the organisation being steady now.
“No leader succeeds on his own. Whether it is in business or football, people always come and say, ‘Dr Motsepe, you’ve done exceptionally well’, and the credit should go to the people I work with,” Motsepe told the media after CAF sealed a deal with Canal+, new owners of SuperSport, who will broadcast all the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) matches in Morocco next month in various languages.
No leader succeeds on his own. Whether it is in business or football, people always come and say
— Dr Motsepe
“One of the things I did was not to earn money as the president of CAF and vice-president of Fifa. All that money I donated to the staff from day one because many of the people were underpaid.”
Motsepe emphasised that sponsors were threatening to leave CAF when he decided to step down as president.
He, however, decided to stay, and was re-elected unopposed in March for a second term. “I was going to step down before the last elections because things were going well,” he said.
“There is a time to come and time to go. It was clear in my mind I was going to spend four years, and that’s why [in] the first year I knew it would require uncompromising emphasis on simple things like referees, and VAR [video assistant referee].
“When I wanted to leave, the sponsors came and said, ‘if you leave, we are going with you’.”
Meanwhile, with Morocco having been the king of hosting big football events, Motsepe said other nations can learn from what they were doing right.
“For me, as the president of CAF, I need the best infrastructure facilities − stadiums, hotels, hospitals, and roads ... We made good money in Ivory Coast [during the Afcon].”
Sowetan
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