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Patrice Motsepe (Gallo Images)
- Patrice Motsepe’s comment “Africa loves Donald Trump” earlier this year could affect his candidacy in the next CAF presidential elections.
- Motsepe faces Ahmad Ahmad (Madagascar), Augustin Senghor (Senegal), Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast) and Amid Yahya (Mauritius).
- The incumbent Ahmad, however, has just been expelled by FIFA for five years due to financial indiscretions.
It has been likened to crawling into bed with the devil, and while billionaire Patrice Motsepe partially apologized for his “Africa loves Donald Trump” comment earlier in the year, the lingering recollection of the astonishing mistake about the controversial US president by Mamelodi The owner of Sundowns could affect his candidacy in the next CAF presidential elections.
Motsepe, with his bid to head the African football watchdog launched by the South African Football Association (SAFA), is one of five candidates, including current Madagascar incumbent Ahmad Ahmad, who is running for the position of president of the CAF when elections are held in March. .
Ahmad, however, has just been expelled by FIFA for five years due to financial indiscretions and, despite his proclaimed intention to appeal the penalty, his re-election bid appears to be in considerable jeopardy.
The others in what could emerge as a tough and boundless presidential battle are Senegal’s President Augustin Senghor, Jacques Anouma from the Ivory Coast and Amid Yahya from Mauritius.
Trump, president of the United States since 2016 but who will be defeated by Joe Biden, is widely despised in Africa, and around the world, for his often rude comments, incessant and compulsive lies and countless accusations of corruption, having suggested between your many comments. indiscretions that African nations were “shit.”
He led a vicious and baseless campaign insinuating that Barack Obama was not born in the United States before he became the first black man to be elected president of the United States and, although now Biden has been widely defeated, he refuses to accept the outcome of the elections. recent elections.
Following the outcry that followed his extraordinary comment that Africa loves Trump, the head of the Sundowns and president of the African Rainbows Mining Empire admitted that he had no right to speak on behalf of the continent, adding that his motive was to improve relations between South Africa. and the United States.
But at no point has he reversed his personal feelings on the delicate matter.
Motsepe’s less than unreserved apology has not erased the disgust many on the African continent retain over the initial praise for Trump and is likely to be a factor in the CAF election, despite the billionaire mogul’s immense services to the South African soccer in general, which included the transformation of the Sundowns into the most successful club in the country, as well as its philanthropic acts that extend beyond the borders of sporting activity.
What’s more, it is something of a conundrum why Motsepe is running for the continent’s trouble-ridden soccer presidency, with as many other commitments, commercial and otherwise, as the country’s third-richest person, with most of the CAF businesses. emanating from his headquarters in Egypt, where he would need to spend considerable time.
Also, if he were elected president of the CAF, Motsepe would have to resign as president of the Sundowns.
Could it be that after several unsuccessful exits to become CAF President, SAFA President Danny Jordaan sees Motsepe as a viable and attractive candidate to represent the interests of South Africa and SAFA in a more comprehensive manner, while breaking down what has been compared to a North African domain? In the organization?
In this regard, the kind Motsepe certainly has a lot going for him, while the CAF administration and many member nations have seen South Africa in the past as an attempt to usurp their own control and power because of its wealth.
Could Motsepe fail this doctrine with his fortune of roughly R30 billion? And then there is the bloody bond and accolades for what most Africans feel is a despicable and racist enemy in Trump and anything but a friend of the continent.
