Mamelodi Sundowns clinched their sixth successive DStv Premiership title after SuperSport United were held to a 1-1 draw by Chippa United on Saturday.
The team from Pretoria played a CAF Champions League group game against Coton Sport from Cameroon less than two hours after a result 1,100 kilometres (685 miles) away confirmed that they were the champions.
To keep a mathematical chance of passing Sundowns, another Pretoria team, SuperSport United, had to beat Chippa United in the southern coastal city of Gqeberha.
But because they tied 1-1, SuperSport can only get 58 points, which is one less than Sundowns already has with seven rounds left.
SuperSport has lost five points in the last two games. They are now tied for second place with Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, which are two of the best-known football teams in South Africa.
Pirates beat Richards Bay 2-0 in Durban, and Chiefs beat Stellenbosch 2-1 at home, even though Stellenbosch had 10 men on the pitch.
Sundowns, which is owned by Patrice Motsepe, the president of CAF and a billionaire businessman, has won the Premiership 13 times since it began in 1996.
Chiefs and Pirates have each won the title four times. SuperSport, Manning Rangers, Santos, and Bidvest Wits have all won the title once.
Commenting on Sundowns latest title, TV analyst and former Chiefs and Pirates star Jimmy Tau said “the champions are head and shoulders above other South African clubs”.
“They are setting a very good example and it is up to the other top-flight clubs to emulate them,” he added.
Critics of Sundowns believe that Motsepe’s financial support gives them an unfair advantage in a league where only Chiefs and Pirates have large cash surpluses.
However, Sundowns have consistently proven to be astute buyers on the transfer market, signing r African and South American stars.
Two goalkeepers, Ugandan Denis Onyango and Zambian Kennedy Mweene, Kenyan Brian Onyango, Namibian Peter Shalulile, and Ethiopian Abubeker Nassire are foreigners.
The South Americans consist of the Bolivian midfielder Erwin Saavedra and the Chilean and Uruguayan forwards Marcelo Allende and Gaston Sirino.
This season, Rulani Mokwena, a 36-year-old native who has never played professional football, was named head coach after previously sharing the position with Manqoba Mngqithi.
Photo by Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
