Rulani Mokwena coach of MC Alger during the CAF Champions League 2025/26 MC Alger Press Conference at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on the 13 February 2026 ©Sydney Mahlangu BackpagePix
Saturday Feb 14, 2026. 10:17
MC Alger head coach Rulani Mokwena has denied accusations that he obtained tactical information about Mamelodi Sundowns and their preparations ahead of the two teams’ decisive CAF Champions League clash on Saturday.
It is alleged that assistant coach and performance analyst Mario Masha leaked information regarding his team’s plans to Mokwena, whom we worked under at Chloorkop.
He is currently suspended pending an internal investigation at the club.
Mokwena, who described himself as a “product of Mamelodi Sundowns”, rose through the coaching ranks at the club from youth level, all the way to the first team, where he worked as an assistant coach. He left for Orlando Pirates before returning to the Brazilians and eventually becoming head coach in October 2022.
In the pre-match press conference at Loftus on Friday, Mokwena read a prepared statement, denying any accusations of espionage.
He started off by saying: “I think the work that we’ve done at Mamelodi Sundowns deserves a little bit better than what has happened in the last couple of weeks.”
“Many things can be said about me personally as a human being, as a coach, but never that I do not invest in my career, never that I do not take my job very seriously, never that I don’t work very, very hard, and never that I do not care about details. Those who know me understand how obsessive I am about preparation,” Mokwena stated.
“Reputation is built over years of conduct and not through anonymous screenshots. And let me state this very, very clearly. Mario [Masha] has not given me any, any technical or confidential information about Sundowns.”
Mokwena stated that while he and Masha did have communication, it was regarding the assistant’s UEFA licences, past work done together as well as European technical and tactical ideas such as those pioneered by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
“At no point, and I repeat, at no point, were current Sundowns technical plans or confidential material shared with me,” said Mokwena.
He came to the defence of the under-fire analyst and assistant coach.
“Mario is a great man, someone I consider a friend, a former colleague, but above all, a hardworking professional and a family man. I would never ask him to compromise his integrity for me. I would never ask anyone to risk their career for a competitive advantage.”
The 39-year-old also believed the allegations to be insulting towards the work and preparation done by his own technical team, undermining their own abilities and professionalism.
The coach closed by stating: “South African football has been built through years of sacrifice and great leadership. We must be very careful not to allow unverified allegations to damage reputations and institutions that have taken decades, decades, great sacrifice to build by great men. I fully remain focused on my club, my players, my staff, and the responsibility we have for the upcoming match. My history, my success, and many of my failures, my work, and my integrity speaks for itself.”
Entering the final matchday of the CAF Champions League, Al Hilal S.C. is atop group C with eight points, MC ASlger follows next on seven points, Sundowns has 6 points and Saint-Éloi Lupopo has five points.
In order to advance, Sundowns must win while MC Alger could go through with a draw, depending on the result of the group’s other fixture, but will want to make sure with a victory.
The two sides will meet at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday, kicking-off at 3pm CAT.
By Nic Gleeson