By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Mining magnate Patrice Motsepe expected to be crowned the new head of African football tomorrow in a tame end to tumultuous weeks of campaigning.
The 59-year-old Motsepe, ranked by Forbes among the richest men on the continent, has been anointed as the new Confederation of African Football (CAF) president after a deal brokered by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
The last impediment to his coronation, which will come at the CAF Congress in Rabat on Friday, was removed on Monday when the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on CAF President Ahmad Ahmad for corruption, although reducing his suspension from five to two years.
Ahmad was initially banned in November, opening the field for new leaders, with Motsepe proving a surprise candidate.
Owner of the successful South African club Mamelodi Sundowns, who won the African Champions League in 2016, he has not previously held office in football administration, enjoying rather an enigmatic profile similar to those of oligarchs investing in top European clubs.
He was pitted against Jacques Anouma of the Ivory Coast, Augustin Senghor from Senegal and Mauritania Football Federation president Ahmed Yahya but the prospect of an intriguing contest ended in a deal that will see Motsepe take the presidency and Senghor and Yahya appointed vice-presidents.
Anouma will become a special advisor.
The FIFA review committee cleared 13 to stand for election in January but ruled out current CAF interim president Constant Omari from DR Congo (for reasons of an on-going FIFA Ethics investigation) and Algeria’s Khireddine Zetchi (for failure to disclose previous sanctions).
Both candidates are understood to have been slow to show support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s African agenda. Both appealed to CAS to have their exclusion from the election overturned.
CAS has said that Omari’s hearing (he didn’t apply for an expedited procedure) has still to be heard, effectively ruling him out of standing in the election on Friday. CAS however did overturn the decision on Zetchi, allowing him to take his place in the election, making him candidate 14. CAF has a vice president and six seats on the council, one of whom must be held by a woman.
CAS has also still to rule on whether Cameroon’s Seidou Mbombo Njoya and Guinea’s Mamadou Antonio Souaré can stand in the election for a seat on CAF’s executive committee.
CAS said that: “An expedited procedure is in progress and a final decision will be rendered by 11 March 2021, at the latest.”
Infantino, who spent two weeks in Africa last month, had denied any part in the succession when questioned by reporters but one day later, at a ceremony in Mauritania to seal the accord between the quartet, the FIFA president acknowledged that world soccer’s governing body had played a part.
“I am delighted that FIFA has been able to contribute, even if just a little, to this crucial moment for football on this great continent,” he said.
Motsepe has promised to use his business connections to improve CAF’s commercial deals and income from television and marketing rights as well as making the Cairo-based organisation more professional.
CAF elections will be held in Rabat, Morocco, March 12.