WATCH | Patrice Motsepe says no to Caf third term

Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe says he has no intention of staying in office beyond his second term, and no one will persuade him otherwise.

When he was elected president in 2021, Motsepe said he only wanted to serve one term but was persuaded to stand again for a second term. He was asked if he might be persuaded again for a third term from 2029 but was adamant that would not happen.

Nobody is going to persuade me to serve more than two terms in CAF.

—  CAF president, Patrice Motsepe

“There are certain things you should never be persuaded about, and nobody is going to persuade me to serve more than two terms in Caf; it is not going to happen,” Motsepe said during a media briefing in Sandton, where he said he was satisfied with the performance of African teams during the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.

Under Motsepe’s leadership, Caf has seen many changes with a boost in financial backing for member associations and increased prize money for tournaments, including the Africa Cup of Nations, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) and inter-club competitions.

On Wednesday, he announced an increase in prize money for the 2026 Wafcon that starts in Morocco on Sunday.

Motsepe said the winners of the competition will bag $2m (about R33m), 100% more than the victors of the 2024 edition, which was played in 2025.

He expressed confidence in the future of football on the continent after he leaves office in 2029 and said the focus now is to get someone who will do an even better job than he did.

“Caf will be fine; African football will be fine even when I’m not there and that’s part of what I’m focusing on. Part of the job is to have better people than me when I was there to take over.”

Sowetan