Sundowns’ success is due to money, says Brandon Truter

Sekhukhune coach Brandon Truter has suggested Mamelodi Sundowns’ superiority is not due to coaching but because they have the financial means to buy top-quality players. 

Sundowns have dominated the Premier Soccer League (PSL) for the better part of the past decade, winning five successive Premiership titles.      

The Pretoria giants look on course to defend the league title for the sixth time running, having been unstoppable in the first half of the season.

But Truter feels deep pockets are the main reason for the club’s dominance as, tactically, every coach in SA can successfully match their Masandawana counterparts.

“Sundowns are so far ahead of everybody because of the quality they have.”

Truter says as long as there’s no salary cap in SA football, Sundowns will continue to rule the PSL.

“There’s no Fifa [financial] fair play in the country and they can buy any quality they want,” he said, adding that while they are able to attract the country’s best talent to Chloorkop, other teams are forced to rely on average players or inexperienced youngsters.”

The rest of the PSL teams did not have the best young talent and had to settle for average to good players while Sundowns can buy whoever they want, he said. 

“That’s where Fifa [financial] fair play comes in. My bosses at Sekhukhune and, I think, those in the rest of the country, don’t have the depth of pockets Mr [Patrice] Motsepe has.”

Truter is not the first to suggest a salary cap to try to level the playing field here.

SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan, after being re-elected for another term last year, spoke about the need to implement a squad-size cap.