Motsepe ‘insisted on buyout clause’
KEAGAN Dolly’s father, Ramon Dolly’s version of events that led to an ugly dispute between his son and Mamelodi Sundowns, claims it was on club president Patrice Motsepe’s insistence that the buyout clause in the player’s contract be R25-million.
Ramon‚ who also works for the Siyavuma SportsAgency which represents Dolly‚ said in an interview with the SABC the family had never wanted their son to return to Downs‚ where he had been a youth product.
He contradicted Motsepe’s view that if it were up to the Downs president, he would sell Dolly for “R5”‚ but that he had a board of directors to answer to.
Ramon alleged Motsepe’s direct invo in the form of a phone call‚ in the initial contract talks in August 2014, saw an initial proposal for a buyout clause doubled from an agreed-upon R750 000.
“When they were interested in Keagan‚ we as a family really didn’t want him to go back to Sundowns as we struggled to get him out of Sundowns when he was a junior‚” Ramon said.
“But they [Sundowns] kept on pressing: ‘They want Keagan‚ they want Keagan’. And we sat down as a family and a company‚ and discussed what would be best for Keagan.
“It was a buyout clause, that was the only way we would let Keagan go back to Sundowns. They didn’t want to put that in‚ [but] eventually they came around.
“My director‚ Paul Mitchell‚ was doing the negotiations with [Sundowns’ commercial and legal manager] Yogesh Singh.
“We came up with a figure of about R750 000. And they [Downs] agreed to it in principle.
“All of a sudden there was a phone call from [Downs president] Patrice [Motsepe]. He wanted the buyout clause to be R1.5-million.
“And it was a shock for us. Why now‚ after we agreed as professionals? What went wrong? Myself and Paul weren’t available but we went around discussing and putting our heads together. Must we sign it?
“And we decided that it’s good for him‚ let’s sign the contract.
“And all of a sudden it’s a mistake. And I don’t know. Honestly‚ how can you make a mistake like that?
“I’m not a lawyer but there were two lawyers involved – Singh and another lady who I believe was called Govender. They handled these contracts. Are you telling me they couldn’t pick up a mistake after 15 or 16 months?
“What I think is that they never thought a European club would come for Keagan and now they’re claiming it’s a mistake.”
Motsepe held a press conference this week‚ going as far as saying he personally would sell Dolly for R5 if he could‚ but that he had a board of directors to answer to.
Singh and Sundowns CEO Sizwe Nzimande could not be reached for comment. – TMG