INFLUENCERS

WHO ARE THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS IN SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL WHOSE DECISIONS AND WORDS INFLUENCE THE FUTURE OF THE GAME?

- Mark Gleeson

South African football is the biggest sporting industry in South Africa, mainly predicated on the television deal it has with DStv but also because of all the other economic activity around it.

Overall, the sports industry is said to contribute more or less R50 billion to the country's economy per annum and is responsible for the employment of more than 500 000 people in South Africa.

Powerful men and women sit at the head of this industry, making the key decisions that dictate the course of the domestic game.

But just who are the 10 most powerful persons at work in South African football?

NO. 1: PATRICE MOTSEPE

The mining magnate, who was a lawyer when he began his career, bought his way into Mamelodi Sundowns some 20 years ago now and has since dramatically changed the landscape of the South African game. His deep pockets have turned the Brazilians into a behemoth and tipped the traditional order away from Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, who no longer have sway over the country's best players. He has since been elevated to the boss of the Confederation of African Football. He has had to formally give up the presidency of the club but is still very much running matters behind the scenes, with all major decisions, especially transfers, going through him. He now calls Sundowns "the family business". As CAF president he now has a seat at the high table of the game, as he is automatically a FIFA vice president. It was FIFA president Gianni Infantino who moved to install him, seeking an alternate to a string of corruptiontainted African football-federation presidents itching to stick their snouts into the money trough. Motsepe is so extraordinarily wealthy that he does not take a cent for his CAF work and pays all his own travel bills.

NO. 2: IRVIN KHOZA