More Aspirants Angle For CAF Presidency

As the clock ticks down to the Confederation of African Football, CAF, Presidential elections scheduled to take place in Morocco on 12 March, 2021, more aspirants are lining up for the continent’s football plum job.
Ahead tomorrow’s deadline for candidates to submit their applications, four heavyweights in the continent have already indicated their interests. After current CAF President, Ahmad Ahmad’s announcement, South African Patrice Motsepe, one of Africa richest men became the third candidate to declare his intention to contest, less than 48 hours after Jacques Anouma of Ivory Coast, a former member of FIFA’s Executive Committee (now FIFA Council) between 2007 and 2015.
Motsepe’s bid, breaks the traditional contestants for the CAF presidency, which had been restricted to high-ranking members of African Football’s ruling body in the past.
Meanwhile, Mauritania’s Ahmed Yahya became the fourth candidate to announce his candidacy for the presidential elections in March.
The head of the Mauritanian federation (FFRIM) since 2011, Yahya was named the continent’s best football administrator at the 2017 CAF awards.
“After much thoughts and discussions, I have decided to present my candidacy,” Yahya announced on social media on Monday evening, adding the hashtags ‘commitment, determination, vision’.
Tomorrow is the deadline for candidates to apply, with Senegal’s Augustin Senghor also expected to throw his hat into the ring before then.
Under Yahaya, who was re-elected for a third term in office last year with a landslide victory, Mauritania achieved a maiden qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations in November 2018 when beating Botswana.
For their achievement, they were named CAF’s Team of the Year for 2018 and a year later, at their debut finals in Egypt, Mauritania failed to exit their group but earned draws against both Angola and Tunisia.
Yahaya, a member of CAF’s Executive Committee member, has also been praised by FIFA for his role in developing both football and its infrastructure in his homeland.
“The FFRIM is a great example of a successful and progressive member association and, in fact, I often refer to it in my speeches and encourage people to visit Mauritania to see for themselves.”