Mamelodi Sundowns Sporting Director Flemming Berg has set the record straight on claims he is responsible for making all the big decisions at the club.
Berg has been media-shy and there has been a lot of speculation that the Sporting Director is in charge of many decisions, which was fuelled when Rulani Mokwena left the club.
Mokwena had been let go by the club despite winning a seventh league title in record-breaking fashion as well as the inaugural African Football League.
As news around his departure emerged, there had been reports that the decision was based on Mokwena and Berg not seeing eye to eye and after some clashes behind the scenes.
However, Berg has now opened up on the club’s decision-making process in general, when explaining the recruitment process of Lucas Ribeiro – not addressing Mokwena’s departure but browsing off into the following explanation – insisting it’s based on various opinions instead of just one person.
“Sundowns is not a one-man club,” he said during a presentation at the Business of Football Conference.
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“I know it has been painted out in the media like that – ‘but Flemming did that and Flemming did that’…
“You completely, and I’ll say this to the media, I know we have representatives here, they completely underestimate the club then. The club is much stronger than that.
“If the media seriously believe that these big decisions are taken by one person, they completely underestimate our board where we have football knowledge, we have leadership knowledge, we have business knowledge and we have a very strong ownership.
“That’s how Sundowns work. And it would be the same way, because we have made the strategy and we have a vision, if I leave tomorrow and another comes in, the strategy would still be there.
“And I hope the strategy will be followed because we’ve proven that it works. That’s how Sundowns work, it’s not run by one person, it is so far from that.
“It’s really painted to underestimate the club, if it’s painted out like that.
“I know there have been situations where it was in the interest of some persons to let it look like this was coming from one person, I know there had been interest in that, but it is so wrong, it is so wrong.
“Decisions are taken by a lot of people in Sundowns, based on a lot of information and we don’t rush into decisions.”
