Dazing club boss of the BVB opponent
He praised Trump and wants to donate his assets
06/21/2025 – 5:28 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The Mamelodi Sundowns are South Africa’s record champions. Responsible for success: the long -time club boss Patrice Motseep – who once wrote history.
When Borussia Dortmund meets the Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa in the second group game at the Club World Cup on Saturday (from 6 p.m. in the live ticker at T-Online), a superlative club is actually waiting for BVB. With 15 titles, the Sundowns are the record champions of their country and something like FC Bayern in South Africa. Most recently eight times in a row, the team from the northwest of Pretoria’s master, dominated the domestic league, won the African Champions League in 2016 and in 2023 the first host of the African Football League.
“You want to play football and tend to solve things in a playful way,” said BVB coach Niko Kovač in the run-up to the game in Cincinnati. “You play handsome – but we will have to prevent that.”
The rise of the Mamelodi Sundowns to one of the most successful clubs in Africa is closely connected to a name: Patrice Motepe. The 63-year-old took over the South African association in 2003 and led it to a new professional level-sporty and structural. According to “Forbes” in 2021 and 2022, the entrepreneur was one of the richest people in Africa with a fortune of around three billion US dollars. In South Africa, he is the first black billionaire in the country.
Motseepe is a dazzling figure in his home country: he is the founder of the mining company African Rainbow Minerals, which includes platinum, gold and copper mines. The dismantling made him rich, almost simultaneously the rise of the Sundowns. In private, Motseepe is married to the doctor and fashion entrepreneur Precious Moloi-Motseepe, the couple has three sons. His sister Tshepo is married to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, another sister, bridged, with former Justice Minister Jeff Radebe.
In January 2020, Motseepe at the World Economic Forum in Davos caused a negative sensation. There he held a bizarre praise on the then US President Donald Trump: “Africa loves America, Africa loves her. We want them to be successful,” the entrepreneur from the time. After a sharp public criticism, he rowed back. He did not have the right to speak for others, he said afterwards.
And in addition to its economic influence, Motseep also takes central roles in international football. He has been President of the African continental association CAF since 2021 and at the same time Vice President of FIFA under Gianni Infantino. At the same time, he is intensively involved in social projects. As a supporter of the “Giving Pledge” initiative, he agreed to use at least half of his assets for charitable purposes. The focus of his foundation’s work is on educational funding and structurally weak regions.
The Sundowns also developed socially under his leadership. The club became a symbol of modern club tour on the African continent. And wants to play handsome – if BVB under Niko Kovač does not prevent it.