FIFA President Gianni Infantino has broken a contract to give South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe a clear run to lead an African football federation after the other three competitors withdrew over the weekend and support give Motsepe.
FIFA said the agreement for candidates Augustin Senghor of Senegal, Jacques Anouma of Ivory Coast and Ahmed Yahya of Mauritania to pull out of the upcoming election – and unification behind Motsepe – came after meetings in Rabat, Morocco. , last week. The agreement was confirmed at another meeting on Saturday in Mauritania, FIFA said.
On that day, the four men joined Infantino at a ceremony celebrating “African unity” in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, and Infantino said it was the desire of all African football federations to “stop the divisions and integration. ”
FIFA said Motsepe would lead the African Football Confederation with a “common program” that would take away from the manifestos of the four men.
Reports said Senghor and Yahya would take over as CAF vice-president and Anouma as an adviser to Motsepe, although FIFA did not reveal any details of the possible deals. to allow Motsepe to stand unchallenged.
“The four leaders have reiterated that what unites them is much stronger than what they could share,” FIFA said. “It was decided that they should come together and form a team led by Patrice Motsepe. ”
Motsepe, a 59-year-old mining expert and brother-in-law of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, is now almost certain to be elected CAF president in Rabat on Friday. With him, he would become FIFA’s vice president.
The only potential hurdle is if Motsepe’s replacement, Ahmad Ahmad, is suspended for a five-year ban from football for financial misconduct at his disposal. Court of Arbitration for Sport and is permitted to stand for re – election. Even then, it seems Ahmad would not find enough votes to win with FIFA now openly supporting Motsepe.
Ahmad, who was CAF president from 2017 until he was banned last year by FIFA, had his appeal hearing at CAS last week. A diagnosis is expected early in the week, possibly Monday.
Motsepe was a remarkable candidate when he announced in November that he would stand for the top job in African football. He owns South African club Mamelodi Sundowns but has never been involved with an African football club, or even his own national club. He was a lawyer before investing in gold mines in the late 1990s and was the first Black African billionaire on the Forbes list in 2008. He has an estimated net worth of $ 2.8 billion and is the ninth richest man in Africa.
He quickly grew as CAF president over the past few weeks after emerging as Infantino’s favorite candidate. Infantino’s involvement has stalled talk of electoral intervention.
FIFA has been heavily involved in the affairs of the African federation since it effectively took over for six months in 2019 after being abusive under Ahmad.
Realizing also the importance of 54 African votes for his own role as FIFA president, Infantino has been close to previous CAF elections.
Infantino was in attendance at a party hosted by campaign manager Ahmad in the run-up to the 2017 CAF election, making a profit that he was supporting Ahmad in the contest against CAF president Issa Hayatou. Hayatou had been in charge of African football for 29 years and was also a former FIFA soldier. Infantino denied taking sides but Ahmad, a well-known man, defeated Hayatou in great surprise.