Motsepe’s CAF legacy hanging by a thread amid AFCON title scandal

COMMENT

Patrice Motsepe was en route to becoming one of the – if not the – greatest CAF president, but such has been the recent turn of events during his tenure that he could very well end up among the worst.

CAF have been under scrutiny over the last few weeks. Their disciplinary committee stripped Senegal of the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 title following an appeal from Morocco. Senegal have since taken the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to appeal the disciplinary committee's decision, where a ruling is expected to go in their favour.

CAF are embroiled in this scandal after the Atlas Lions were awarded a controversial penalty in the final earlier this year, resulting in the Lions of Teranga staging a mini walkout, before returning to the pitch to resume the game. Ibrahim Diaz missed the subsequent penalty, before Pape Gueye scored in extra-time to win the title decider.

Given the fact that the game concluded after referee Jean-Jacques Ndala resumed play, once Senegal returned to the pitch, the disciplinary committee scrutinised all events and issued a host of fines, which seemed justifiable at the time.

In hindsight, Ndala shouldn’t have allowed the restart, according to Articles 82 and 84 of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Regulations. When Senegal staged a walk-off, they should have been deemed to have forfeited the game, with Morocco awarded a 3-0 victory.

Now CAF are here: hogging the headlines for all sorts of reasons, tainting the image of Motsepe, who seemed to have everything under control, including securing sponsors for continental football.

Motsepe has argued that the disciplinary committee is led by independent judges and lawyers, which is why decisions are made without his influence, but as the leader of the organisation, he – and no one else – should have ensured that everything was followed to the letter.

Ndala may have thought his controversial decision was awarding Morocco the penalty, but it was his decision to allow the game to resume that has brought the association to where it is now. Given all his shortcomings and non-implementation of the laws, it’s quite appalling that Ndala was not sanctioned by the disciplinary committee, yet CAF are in this position due to his controversial officiating.

Again, Motsepe cannot meddle in disciplinary committee matters, but he should have ensured that the final was thoroughly scrutinised, with everyone who failed to apply the rules of the game correctly also held accountable.

Motsepe seemed to be the powerful figure CAF needed, making full use of his position as Fifa vice-president ,while Gianni Infantino was spending time in Africa. However, given the recent flaws, serious questions have been raised, including whether CAF has sold their soul to Uefa to accommodate European teams’ demands, including tournaments and scheduling.

As expected, Motsepe denied those allegations. But where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and that’s why he must take accountability for all that has gone wrong in recent weeks.

Motsepe’s strong ties with Morocco seemed understandable at first, given that the country has world-class facilities and is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup. However, it is starting to appear that Motsepe is being influenced by Moroccan interests, which may explain the irregularities during his tenure.

Motsepe declared during a recent press conference that he will respect and implement CAS’s decision – as he should. But the damage is already done, and it could very well harm his reputation at a time when his tenure had been on the rise.