{"id":1268942,"date":"2022-12-22T13:19:16","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T13:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/12\/22\/world-cup-africa-will-reach-2026-final-says-caf-president-motsepe\/"},"modified":"2022-12-22T13:19:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T13:19:16","slug":"world-cup-africa-will-reach-2026-final-says-caf-president-motsepe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/12\/22\/world-cup-africa-will-reach-2026-final-says-caf-president-motsepe\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup: Africa will reach 2026 final, says Caf president Motsepe"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
<\/span>
Patrice Motsepe has led the Confederation of African Football since March 2021<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An African nation will reach the World Cup final in 2026, Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe said on Wednesday as he reflected on the continent\u2019s successful campaign in Qatar. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The South African believes <\/span>Morocco\u2019s pioneering run<\/span> to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals in Qatar has laid groundwork regarding both belief and ambition ahead of the next finals. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident that in the next World Cup, an African nation will go further,\u201d the 60-year-old said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe historic achievements of Morocco have made all of us in Africa uniquely proud. The future of African football is incredibly bright. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the talent on the continent, there are 10-15 nations in Africa now that can compete at the highest level in the world and win.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a bold claim given that Morocco, fuelled by an incredible \u2018home\u2019 support given the proximity of Qatar to North Africa, are the sole side to have ever contested the semi-finals, out of 54 African visits to the tournament. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, after <\/span>Africa\u2019s most successful World Cup<\/span> ever, Motsepe also recalled that the continent has previously won the Olympics \u2013 through both Nigeria (1996) and Cameroon (2000). <\/span><\/p>\n

In Qatar for the finals, Motsepe said he is taking inspiration from Croatia\u2019s recent World Cup displays, with the European nation of just under four million having now reached the semi-finals in three of its six World Cups. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGiven a nation of 3.5 million people can compete against Brazil, I\u2019ll never accept that an African nation cannot compete at the highest level,\u201d said Motsepe as he spoke in his homeland South Africa. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are proud moments for football in Africa, and the main objective is an African nation to win the World Cup \u2013 we have to believe, and encourage every young boy and girl, because it\u2019s not just the men we want to win the World Cup, but also the women.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are absolutely confident that the performance at the World Cup will serve as a significant stimulus and accelerator for the very good work taking place in increasing the quality and global competitiveness of African football.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Investment the key for Africa <\/h3>\n
\"Morocco<\/span><\/span>
Youssef En-Nesyri celebrates the goal that ensured victory over Portugal and a first World Cup semi-final for Africa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Motsepe was full of praise for Faouzi Lekjaa, the head of Morocco\u2019s football federation, and King Mohamed VI, saying the duo\u2019s role in significantly investing in the country\u2019s football should inspire Africa. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yet as he freely admitted, very few of the continent\u2019s other countries invest anywhere near the same amount. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe quality, growth and success of football in any one of the 54 countries is not what it should be,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a number of countries in Africa, but sadly not many really invest.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

As he has since taking charge in March 2021, Motsepe \u2013 <\/span>Africa\u2019s ninth-richest man<\/span>external-link<\/title><\/svg><\/span> according to Forbes magazine, with a fortune of just under $3 billion \u2013 stressed the importance of the private sector investing in football, and Caf\u2019s continuing investment in youth and schools football. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJohan Cruyff told me to invest in youth football,\u201d he said, before hinting at a possibly-short reign as Caf boss. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPart of my job is to lay a solid foundation. You don\u2019t judge leaders exclusively by what they do, but by the continuity, success and progress when they\u2019re not there.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Caf-Lagardere row \u2018resolved\u2019 <\/h3>\n
\"French<\/span><\/span>
Motsepe talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as Morocco met France in the 2022 World Cup semi-final<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the first time, Caf officially acknowledged it has settled its affairs with French media company Lagardere (now SportFive) after unilaterally cancelling the biggest broadcasting deal in African football history. <\/span><\/p>\n

The decision was taken when the African body was jointly run alongside Fifa\u2019s Fatma Samoura, with the Secretary General effectively seconded to Caf in a bid to clean up the game. <\/span><\/p>\n

During this six-month period, which ended when Caf\u2019s top officials <\/span>voted against any extension, <\/span>the Lagardere deal was cancelled with the lure of better opportunities to come \u2013 only for the coronavirus to severely damage such hopes months later. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can confirm that the dispute between Caf and Lagardere has been amicably resolved to the satisfaction of both parties,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Motsepe said legal reasons prevent Caf from discussing the deal, with Lagardere having told the BBC the same thing earlier this month. <\/span><\/p>\n

The settlement fee that Caf must pay Lagardere is $50m, split into two payments of $25m, by the end of 2024, BBC Sport Africa understands. <\/span><\/p>\n

Both the settlement fee and Lagardere cancellation have further weakened Caf\u2019s finances, an issue Motsepe said he would address upon taking charge in March 2021, a day when Caf <\/span>revealed losses<\/span> of roughly a third of its cash reserves over the previous financial year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Motsepe said that he was asked to drop CHAN by some leading Caf officials as it \u201closes money\u201d \u2013 in a further admission of how the Lagardere deal has affected things, given that this tournament was scheduled to bring in $43m as per the now ripped-up contract. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ever-changing Super League plans<\/h3>\n
\"Wydad<\/span><\/span>
Another Moroccan football team, Wydad Casablanca, are currently the champions of Africa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The much-trumpeted African Super League has had little official update since Motsepe said in August that the 24 teams earmarked for the tournament <\/span>would receive $2.5m<\/span> to take part. <\/span><\/p>\n

Three months on, that figure has reduced to $2m \u2013 intended for clubs to buy players and afford travel \u2013 and a source close to talks says the number of teams could well reduce to just eight. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is despite Motsepe saying \u201ctoo many teams\u201d wanted entry, although finances may well be at play again given the repeated talk of interested sponsors \u2013 \u201clots of money is being bandied about\u201d \u2013 has yet to be followed up by any concrete announcements. <\/span><\/p>\n

After an initial announcement that the Super League \u2013 which Caf has said is being run in conjunction with Fifa \u2013 would be a closed league, Motsepe said there is now likely to be a system of promotion and relegation. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, the African Super League is a very important intervention and we are confident over time it will significantly increase the salaries of players in Africa,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patrice Motsepe has led the Confederation of African Football since March 2021 An African nation will reach the World Cup final in 2026, Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe said on Wednesday as he reflected on the continent\u2019s successful campaign in Qatar. The South African believes Morocco\u2019s pioneering run to the 2022 World […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1268943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1268942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1268942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268942\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1268942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1268942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1268942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}