President of the Confederation of African Football, Dr Patrice Motsepe has expressed his worry about the rampant departure of top players from the African continent.
Most players who turn out to perform well often depart to Europe to join other clubs for greener pastures. The mass departure of players from the continent has grossly affected African football.
In order to curb rapid departure of players, Motsepe, who is a former president of Mamelodi Sundowns has called for a competitive salary for players.
Citing Sundowns as an example, Motsepe asserted his former outfit can compete with clubs from Scandinavia and Greece in terms of the salaries, which keeps them from moving to Europe.
“What will have a big impact on ensuring that the best African players remain in Africa is that we must pay them well. We must pay them competitively. And I know from my experience at Sundowns that we competed with Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Greece.
And we would ask players, ‘Okay, how much are you earning there? And we can pay you that.’ They would prefer to be in Africa. I am proud of what many of our African clubs are doing, making huge sacrifices. And some of them are making huge financial sacrifices because they don’t have the means,” said Motsepe.
Motsepe relinquished his role as the president of the South African giants following his election CAF president years back.
