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Caf Super League: Motsepe promises to engage and consult divergent voices on new tournament

Caf President Patrice Motsepe has stated that they are going to listen to divergent views regarding the Africa Super League.

Motsepe launched the Super League on Wednesday in Arusha, Tanzania, at Caf’s 44th general assembly.

Although the African football administrator has confidence in the new competition, opposing voices have been raised, and one of the opponents is the South African Football Players Union (Safpu), which termed it an ill-conceived and unworkable idea.

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"Part of our job is to engage and to consult with all stakeholders,” Motsepe told BBC Africa Sport.

“And sometimes it's more important to listen to those who have got different views and also those who disagree with you.

"I think some of them feel that we haven't spoken to them. We couldn't have spoken to everybody. It's impossible. We will engage with all of them."

Motsepe has always stressed that the Super League is an avenue to source more funds for the African football competitions.

"I want to be in a situation where there's competition among all the leagues, and I want the Champions League to even get more prize money, and to be competitive," he added.

"My objective is to get money for football infrastructure, for players, club owners, stakeholders. We are talking about anything between $250m to $300m every year," Motsepe explained.

"If you look at the numbers, we are talking about $2.5m for each of the 24 clubs to use, to help with transport and accommodation but also to buy players."

On her part, Simba’s chief executive officer, Barbara Gonzalez, highlighted what she thinks are the benefits of the inaugural tournament.

"This is going to change the face of African football as we know it in terms of investment, exposure, and marketing overall," Gonzalez said.

"As one of the leading football clubs in the region, we're extremely excited about this."

Fifa President Giani Infantino, who was present during the Super League launch, added his voice on the idea that has attracted divergent views across the continent.

"Well, first of all, the African Super League is a completely different proposition than what was proposed in Europe, which was a kind of a breakaway thing outside of the structures," Infantino explained.

"This is done within the structure within Caf, within Fifa, within the football pyramid structure."

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