Motsepe rejects claims that FIFA and Europe control African football

Motsepe was responding to a question from a journalist who had insinuated that the decision to change the AFCON's hosting cycle from 2 to 4 years was driven by Zurich towards Africa.

This decision has been widely rejected by some coaches at the 35th edition of the AFCON tournament in Morocco, but Motsepe defended it again yesterday.

But it was the FIFA question that got him talking...

"It is absolute nonsense to say we will run Africa for Europe, we run Africa for Africa! When you've got 54 nations in Africa saying that the African nations League is world-class, we have to take decisions that will benefit Africa and I'm confident that over the years, the results of our decisions will speak for themselves."

READ: How can I watch Senegal battle Morocco in the 2025 AFCON final on Sunday?

When the AFCON 4-year cycle decision was introduced at the beginning of this tournament last month, Motsepe revealed that they would introduce the African Nations League (ANL) from 2028, to be held annually and help close the revenue gap following changes to AFCON hosting.

He repeated his earlier statements that the ANL could also fare better, revenue-wise, than a biennial AFCON tournament.

In terms of the misconception that he’s being controlled, Motsepe recalled how some outside forces wanted him to cancel or postpone the AFCON 2021 tournament in Cameroon, just a few months after he had been elected as the CAF president.

He also tackles the issue of the targeted profit and budget for the current AFCON...

"This AFCON will be profitable, and that is a key issue. I could spend 500 billion dollars and then I only get 300 million dollars in return, and then it's a problem. I could also spend 100 billion dollars and receive 200 billion dollars- it excites me. Numbers are everything."

Motsepe reiterates that he’s convinced the ANL will be a solution to their problems going forward, complementing the four-yearly AFCON tournament.

He sees this shorter version, played annually, as a means to strengthen some local derbies during the international weeks.

Meanwhile, Motsepe also addressed that the concerns raised by the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) about their team's inadequate security, accommodation issues, and questions about their training ground on the eve of their all-important AFCON final against the hosts.

All these matters have since been addressed as Motsepe once again pleads with Africans to stop the inferiority complex...

"We've got to move away from this inferiority complex where FIFA controls Africa. The FIFA have got more respect for us than some of our journalists, but that's freedom of the press. All I ask is, stop this inferiority complex. 

"They say good news doesn't sell anymore, it's the bad news, the controversy, the weaknesses and the failures that sells."