Cape Town – A report by Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo has revealed the amount SA billionaire Patrice Motsepe paid to get Spanish giants Barcelona to travel to South Africa to face Mamelodi Sundowns.
PICS: Historic Sundowns-Barcelona clash in SA
The La Liga champions thrashed their Absa Premiership opponents 3-1 in their Mandela Centenary Cup match in front of a sold-out crowd at the FNB Stadium in Soweto on Wednesday night.
It was revealed that it cost Motsepe – who has a net worth of R25.6 billion – just under R45 million (€3 million) to get Barcelona to make the one-day trip to South Africa.
However, some Spanish reports put the figure at an eye-watering R105 million!
This excludes additional costs such as the chartered plane to fly the Barca squad and coaching staff out to South Africa.
Barcelona arrived just after 08:00 on Wednesday morning after a two-hour delay and made their way back to Spain at midnight.
Ernesto Valverde, praised the occasion after the final whistle, saying: "I liked our opponents a lot because of their enthusiasm, it was a very nice match and the atmosphere was fantastic. For us its an honour that weve been invited for such a celebration."
Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen also thanked the amazing support received during their trip.
"It has been a great experience for us and we are pleased to have won in front of the South African fans. We really liked the atmosphere and I can only say "Thank you for the support. We hope to return soon."
