Downs boss owns up

Mamelodi Sundowns owner Patrice Motsepe says the dispute over a buyout clause in Keagan Dolly's contract irritated him so much that he would have sold the star player for just R5 if the decision was entirely up to him.

The mining magnate said though he owns the club, he still has to account to the board.

The board's assertion was that Sundowns were vindicated after Dolly lost his case against the club at the Premier Soccer League's dispute resolution chamber last week.

A candid Motsepe said: "If it were entirely up to me, I would say forget it, man. Just go tomorrow and forget about the buyout clause, even if they pay us R5 or even if they pay us nothing.

"We've got to try to make sure that these sort of things do not happen again because this is not good for us [and the club's image]."

Sundowns contested the R12-million buyout clause in Dolly's contract should he receive interest from European clubs.

The midfielder was livid that he paid R200000 from his own pocket on legal fees in the long-running dispute.

Sundowns claim that the changes made in Dolly's new contract, signed 17 months ago, were a mistake made by the club.

Motsepe said he personally called Dolly and told him that he had his full backing in the midst of the furore. He revealed that an unnamed club official made the changes to Dolly's contract without consulting him and was responsible for the blunder that has put the club in a negative light.

The billionaire further alleged that the club official might have been bribed. "The first thing that arose on the Dolly issue is that some of the board members were saying 'no, the people who changed [the contract] and halved it were given money'. "The person who changed it ... did it because they gave him money to say go and change it.

"Why must you have a buyout clause for R10-million that is signed and you change it to R5-million?

''We did it, not them. So the first question was 'Patrice, stop living in your own world... the person who changed it from R10-million to R5-million was given something'."

He said he had taken steps to avoid a repeat of the situation and that from now on, three signatures would be required to make changes on contracts and not just one.

Motsepe added that he accepted full responsibility for an incident that had become a public-relations disaster for a club that should still be celebrating winning the CAF Champions League last year.

"Never ever again will one person be allowed to make changes to contracts alone," he said.

''Who is the most senior person at Mamelodi Sundowns? It is Patrice Motsepe? So the blame and the responsibility, whether I know or I don't know, it happened under my watch. That is why I have got to come here, account and explain."