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Sundowns owner gives entire $1.5m prize money to players
South Africa's mining mogul Patrice Motsepe, owner of Mamelodi Sundowns, has said the team will share the U.S. $1.5million (20.8m Rand) prize money, a gesture which is being applauded on media
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The South African giants defeated Zamalek 3-1 on aggregate to become the first South African side, after Orlando Pirates in 1995 to win the CAF Champions League.
Patrice Motsepe, who is enthused with his team's played has asked the playing body to share the entire prize money for winning the competition.
“All of the $1.5 million (R20.8 million), it’s all theirs. They must now sit down and start thinking about how they are going to divide that money amongst themselves,” Motsepe reportedly said.
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“I just said to them: ‘Guys, don’t waste the money now. Take some of that money and invest it. It will benefit you when your football days are over,” the 54 year old billionaire said.
"I just said to them: ‘Guys‚ don’t waste the money now. Take some of that money and invest it. It will benefit you when your football days are over’."
Motsepe praised Downs coach Pitso Mosimane for putting together a team capable of conquering Africa.
"You know the irony is I had coaches from all over the world‚ and I had to wait for a young man from SA to show us something that we always knew — that we have got so much talent in SA.
"We must just give our coaches a chance and also invest in our youth. The future for South African football looks bright.
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"I’m very proud of him. And I’m also proud of [assistant coaches] Manqoba [Mngqithi] and Rhulani [Mokoena].
"And I also want to take this opportunity to thank those who’ve been part of South African football for many years. I was a little boy and these people inspired me. They are my heroes‚ and we also want to dedicate this to them," the president said.
"This is a humble contribution from Mamelodi Sundowns for SA. It’s a great‚ great honour to represent your country.
"And we are so honoured that we can bring this trophy back for all South Africans."
Motsepe has invested heavily in Sundowns and the club has won the Premier Soccer League (PSL) four times (2005/06, 2006/07, 2013/14; 2015/16) since the billionaire came on board. AmaSandawana have won the PSL a record seven times, but their performance on the continental stage has been far from convincing. The Pretoria based club came close to lifting the continental title in 2001 when they finished as runner ups, after losing 4-1 to the most successful African team in the competition, Egyptian giants Al-Ahly who have won the trophy a record eight times (runner-ups twice).
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