Governing Bodies
AFRICA’S 10TH RICHEST MAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT IN-LAW, PATRICE MOTSEPE ENTERS CAF PRESIDENTIAL RACE
Four days to the close of bids, South African Patrice Motsepe, has announced his intention to contest for the post of president of Confederation of African Football, CAF.
Motsepe, an in-law to South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is one of Africa’s richest men. He is also the chairman of 2016 African club champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
He thus becomes the third person to formally bid for the role, after incumbent Ahmad and Jacques Anouma of Cote d’Ivoire. Two Tunisians- Tarek Bouchamaoui and Wadie Jary. showed intentions, but are yet to make formal bid.
Motsepe is Africa’s tenth richest man, according to Forbes magazine which estimates his wealth at $2.4 billion.
“CAF must improve its global standing,” said South Africa FA president Danny Jordaan. “He is the most appropriate person we could offer for the leadership of Caf. We do not want any compromise on governance or ethics in football.”
Motsepe, who is in quarantine at home after contracting Covid-19 according to Jordaan, was not present at Monday’s press conference in Johannesburg to announce his bid, with Jordaan – flanked by South Africa’s Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa – doing so instead.
In a related development, one expected challenger – Amaju Pinnick of Nigeria – has decided against standing for the Caf presidency and given his backing to Motsepe instead.
The South African is the second candidate to announce in less than 48 hours, after Anouma – a former member of FIFA’s Executive Committee (now Fifa Council) between 2007 and 2015 – was formally backed by the Ivorian federation on Saturday evening.
Reigning president Ahmad, meanwhile, submitted his candidacy in October but his ability to contest March’s elections is in doubt given he is set to face a ban from football after being found to have breached various FIFA’s ethic codes, BBC Sport Africa understands.
The 60-year-old from Madagascar, who was questioned by French anti-corruption authorities last year without being charged, has previously denied any wrongdoing.
Motsepe’s bid, which comes ahead of Thursday’s deadline for candidates to formally register their interest, breaks the traditional contestants for the Caf presidency, which has been restricted to high-ranking members of African football’s ruling body in the past.
Motsepe is able to contest the position since he fulfils the requirements of having been involved in football for the past five years, with the South African having led Pretoria-based Sundowns since 2004, and has received the backing of his own federation.
Having made his fortune in mining after starting out as a lawyer, Motsepe – whose wife is the elder sister of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa – is already receiving support from across Africa, with Botswana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone among those to have already publicly backed him.
“He has more superior qualities than me,” Pinnick told BBC Sport Africa. “It’s not about me, it’s about African football. If you have someone with superior qualities, you have to learn from him and queue behind him and wait for your time.”
“The key to successful governance starts from the point where the right person or persons are put in the right positions for the right reasons,” said Sierra Leone FA president Isha Johansen. “African football and the African continent needs to be on the global platform for the right reasons.”
Botswana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone were among the eight countries – with Anouma’s Cote d’Ivoire another – that refused to give their backing to Ahmad last month when 46 other African FA presidents called on the Malagasy to contest a second term.
With countries only able to nominate one candidate for CAF’s Executive Committee, including the presidency, Motsepe’s bid means South Africa FA president Danny Jordaan can no longer apply for the FIFA Council role that he has long coveted.
“It’s a deferred ambition,” Jordaan told BBC Sport Africa on Monday.
CAF’s elections are set to take place in Morocco next March.
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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