Patrice Motsepe addresses lack of sportsmanship in African football

CAF president Patrice Motsepe says there is a need to deal with the lack of sportsmanship among African countries, which has existed for a long time.

African football has been faced with hostility for visiting countries or clubs for a long time.

Some of the examples would be hosting teams failing to provide adequate transportation, accommodations, or training facilities.

The latest embarrassing incident was when the 2025 AFCON qualifier between Nigeria and Libya had to be cancelled. This is after the Super Eagles spent 20 hours stuck at a Libyan Airport.

CAF PRESIDENT NOT IMPRESSED BY THE LACK OF SPORTSMANSHIP AMONG AFRICAN COUNTRIES

“I have heard too many stories of a football club or national team going to a country. You spend hours at the airport, and they ask you about documents. Apparently, during COVID, they would look at who the best players are from your team and say those 10 players have COVID-19,” Motsepe was speaking during the CAF 46th Ordinary General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“You tell them that you have just been tested, and they say no, you have COVID. But it’s this lack of sportsmanship that has existed, and we haven’t taken effective action. If there are violations of those regulations and rules, we will take action.”

PATRICE MOTSEPE PROUD OF COUNTRIES AND CLUBS THAT CONTINUE TO SHOW RESPECT TO OTHERS

“So I just want to repeat, we are proud of those nations that treat visiting teams and football clubs with the respect and dignity that they deserve. But also who treat them in the same way that they want to be treated when they visit those clubs. We are reviewing those laws, and we want to emphasise sportsmanship. ”

“When there was a problem with the Nigerian national team in Libya. I will not comment on that [merits] because there is a proper investigation. But I want to emphasise a principle that we will not tolerate because this is something that has been going on for some time. Let me emphasize, forget about the Nigeria and Libya situation because that process of being properly investigated and appropriate action will be taken.”

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