Billionaire Patrice Motsepe backed to succeed Infantino as FIFA president

South Africa's sports minister has publicly thrown his weight behind billionaire Patrice Motsepe to become the next president of FIFA, positioning the mining magnate as a leading candidate to succeed Gianni Infantino whenever the Swiss administrator steps down.

Gayton McKenzie, the minister of sport, arts and culture, told CityAM that Motsepe's name would command near-universal support across the game. "I don't know if there's anybody that will disagree with his name" being in contention to take over, McKenzie said, framing the South African as the natural heir to world football's top job.

The endorsement comes with a long runway. Infantino is expected to be re-elected unopposed next year for a third term, a tenure that would run to 2031 and stretch his time in charge to 15 years. McKenzie made clear that Africa would wait its turn rather than mount a challenge now. "Let Infantino serve this term," he said. "He's going to serve another term. We'll make sure that is the case in Africa. As soon as the term is finished, we will all root for Patrice Motsepe to take over FIFA."

Motsepe, 64, has led the Confederation of African Football since 2021, and his presidency has coincided with a marked rise in the competitiveness of African teams. McKenzie credited him with reshaping the continental game. "Patrice Motsepe, what he has done to African soccer, the Confederation of African Football, has never been done," the minister said. "He has brought professionalism, big money to the table, and he rooted out corruption."

The case rests partly on results at the expanded World Cup, which concludes on Sunday. The tournament featured 10 African teams, nine of which advanced past the group stage. Egypt reached the last 16 and Morocco the quarter-finals, outcomes McKenzie cited as evidence that teams under CAF now boast the highest qualification rate for the knockout rounds.

Motsepe would be the first African to lead FIFA if elected. He was named last month in CityAM's Football Power List, a ranking of the 25 most influential figures in the sport, a measure of how far his standing in football administration has climbed in a short period.

His path to Zurich is complicated by a rival ambition at home. Motsepe is also said to have an eye on the South African presidency, with the next national elections due in 2029, two years before any FIFA vacancy would open. The overlapping timelines mean the two goals could work against each other, forcing a choice between the highest office in his own country and the top job in world football.

Whether Motsepe pursues either remains unstated by the man himself. He has not publicly declared for the FIFA presidency, and the backing so far has come from allies rather than from any campaign of his own. Infantino's grip on the role also appears firm, with support reported from South America, Africa and Asia sufficient to secure a third term unopposed.

Motsepe built the fortune that underpins his football rise through mining. He founded African Rainbow Minerals in the late 1990s, becoming the first Black South African to build a major mining company in the post-apartheid era, and later expanded into financial services through African Rainbow Capital and insurer Sanlam. Forbes has estimated his net worth at around $3 billion, making him one of the wealthiest people on the continent and the first Black South African to appear on its billionaires list.

His wealth and his football platform have long been intertwined. He owns Mamelodi Sundowns, one of the most successful clubs in South African football, and has poured resources into the professional game domestically before taking the CAF role. The combination of financial muscle and administrative record forms the core of the argument his backers now make for a FIFA candidacy.

The minister delivered his endorsement while in London for an event in Trafalgar Square marking Nelson Mandela Day, a celebration that also commemorates 30 years of South Africa's constitution. The timing placed Motsepe's name in front of an international audience at a moment when African football's stock, by his supporters' account, has rarely been higher.

Any contest is years away, and much can shift before 2031. What the intervention establishes is that South Africa intends to push its most prominent businessman toward the summit of world football when the moment arrives, and that within his own government, the ambition already has a powerful voice behind it.