Sundowns board suspected that one of their own accepted a bribe to alter Dolly's buyout clause

Patrice Motsepe revealed that the Mamelodi Sundowns board raised suspicions over the way midfielder Keagan Dolly's buyout clause was reduced from £1.5 million (R25 million) to €733‚ 000 (R10.5 million).

Motsepe said on Monday the board suspected that one of their own had accepted a bribe to lower the buyout clause.

“The first thing that arose on the Dolly issue was that some of the board members were saying‚ 'No‚ the people who changed it‚ halved it‚ were given money‚” said Motsepe.

• ‘‘I would have been willing to sell Keagan Dolly for R5 if the decision was entirely up to me” — Patrice MotsepeMamelodi Sundowns billionaire owner Patrice Motsepe says the dispute over a buyout clause in Keagan Dolly’s contract irritated him so much that he would have been willing to sell the player for just R5 if the decision was entirely up to him. 

He refused to mention whether the person responsible was still in the employ of Sundowns‚ but said he was convinced that it was a “genuine error” and that the matter is now water under the bridge.

Motsepe said he was willing to shoulder responsibility as the controversy happened under his watch as club boss.

“Who's the most senior person at Sundowns? Patrice Motsepe.

"Whether I know or don't know‚ it happened under my watch and that's why I have to account and explain as best as I can."

Sundowns were previously caught up in a similar situation when it was claimed that some club officials forged former player Jose Torrealba's signature on a contract about a decade ago.

• Incensed Keagan Dolly angry with his employers Mamelodi SundownsKeagan Dolly is livid that he has been taken by Mamelodi Sundowns to the Premier Soccer League at a R200 000 personal expense on dispute to a buyout clause in his contract that the club now claims was a mistake. 

Torrealba won the case against Sundowns in October 2007 and as a result‚ their then executive director Afzal Khan was relieved of his duties.

Khan insisted that he didn't forge Torrealba's signature. Motsepe admitted that more needs to be done at his club to avoid this in future.

“We are continuously looking at these things and now‚ never ever again will one person be allowed to change a contract.

"There will now be processes in place where three people would be required to do that. If one person misses it‚ the second one would pick it up‚” he said.

- TMG Digital