South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa is opposing SA Tourism’s three-year deal worth £42.5 million to sponsor English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.

According to News24, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa was not briefed on the proposal.

Magwenya also explained that spending such amount of money on the deal will be difficult to justify.

“Even though the Presidency has not been briefed, we do not think spending so much money in the manner that is being suggested will be justified,” Magwenya told the publication.

The SA Tourism wants the deal to start in the 2023/24 season and finish at the end of the 2026/27 season.

In return, Spurs would put the SA brand on their kit, do interview backdrop branding, match-day advertising, partnership announcements, training camps in South Africa, and free access to tickets and stadium hospitality.

SA Tourism’s chief executive officer Themba Khumalo defended the deal, saying: “When you do something new and innovative, heroes and villains are the same person.

“The positive thing is that we’re all engaged in terms of how to recover the tourism sector. We’re of the view that when you do something innovative, this will happen.

“We were prepared for it, and we were sticking to our strategy, objective and mandate that’s outlined in the Tourism Act.”