Motsepe handcuffed himself with judicials

Stripping Senegal of the Afcon crown is totally unacceptable

- Kgomotso Mokoena

That “a fish rots from the head down” is a popular proverb meaning that when an organisation or system fails, the root cause is usually indecisive leadership.

It signifies that incompetence, corruption, or toxic culture originates at the top and spreads downwards, emphasising that leaders are responsible for the health of their organisations.

This week we witnessed one of the lowest points in African football, a sucker punch below the belt that is so disheartening and demoralising. Getting a statement on the stroke of midnight on Tuesday announcing that 2025 Afcon champions Senegal have been stripped of their title for walking off the pitch during the final and that Morocco, who finished as runners-up, were confirmed as the new champions, really felt like I was being visited by Freddy Krueger of A Nightmare on Elm Street horror flicks.

I have covered Motsepe since 2003 when he bought Mamelodi Sundowns from the Tsichlas family. At the beginning, he was shooting in the dark, had a bottomless pit of cash and was buying players willy-nilly.