Tuesday May 26, 2026. 13:00
South Africa Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie plans to submit a letter of complaint to Mamelodi Sundowns about the comments made by Miguel Cardoso after winning the CAF Champions League title.
The Brazilians conquered Africa for the second time in 10 years when they drew 1-1 with AS FAR at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on Sunday to win the final 2-1 on aggregate.
Bafana Ba Style missed out on the double though, after Orlando Pirates pipped them to glory by one point in the Betway Premiership after beating Orbit College 2-0 on the final day of the season.
Cardoso’s side faced a fixture pile-up in the final month due to their continental exploits, playing seven league games in the space of just 21 days and it took a toll on his players in the end.
Cardoso claimed after their 3-2 defeat against TS Galaxy on May 12 that they had been defeated by the calendar and he highlighted the challenges Masandawana had to deal with once more after their Champions League triumph.
“It is important that if South Africa is to have one team to win again soon, some dynamics have to change, to provide the right conditions,” the Portuguese tactician said.
“Today we had three potential Bafana Bafana players who could not play – Thapelo Morena, Aubrey Modiba and Bathusi Aubaas.
“The last month exposed something not normal. They could have been very useful to us. It is time the people in charge of South African football think about what they want in terms of the development of football in the country.”
McKenzie took exception to those remarks, insisting it does harm to the PSL’s brand.
“We are happy for @Masandawana but we cannot continuously be told by this coach about how [badly] our league is run,” he posted on X.
“We, like everyone else, got challenges but we have the [best-run] league in Africa. Stop talking down on South Africa. We will write to @Masandawana to complain today.
“Listening to the coach of @Masandawana you will think everything is wrong with our league, he says [these] things without forwarding any proof.
“We [are] working very hard to bring in sponsors and this type of nonsense spewed sets us back tremendously.”