Legendary South African coach Pitso Mosimane believes that Relebohile Mofokeng’s transfer from Orlando Pirates to Royale Union Saint-Gilloise—for an estimated fee of over €3 million (approximately R56 million)—provides an ideal pathway for his career.
The accomplished tactician, who has coached in Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE. noted that Belgium’s accommodating player rules have historically served as a launching pad for South Africans like Percy Tau to reach bigger European leagues.
Mosimane, a former footballer, who played in Greece and Qatar, emphasized that accessible leagues in countries like Belgium and Cyprus offer the easiest routes for South African players to break into Europe, which is crucial for the growth of the national game.
“Countries like Belgium where Rele has gone, that’s where Percy [Tau] came,” said Pitso about the 21-year-old Bafana Bafana star on Smash Sports’ Changing The Game with Pitso Mosimane.
“Percy played there, started there. Belgium has launched a lot of players and gave them opportunities to go to big leagues. Even themselves, the Lukakus, Kevin De Bruyne, [Youri] Tielemans. You have to play in Belgium to do that, Belgium is also friendly to our Africans, the rules are much better.
“It’s not like in England where you have to have 70% caps for the last two years or a year. I don’t how that criteria is for now. So, it’s not easy to get to those players. Countries like Cyprus, Pafos plays Champions League. I think Omonia just won the league there. Pafos went into the last 16 of Champions League [last season],” he continued.
“That’s where [Thapelo] Maseko, who scored against South Korea, is playing in Cyprus. Probably an easy route for us South Africans to go to Europe is in those countries. We need more players in Europe.”
