CAF fills its committees and FIFA Council seats

March 12 – Egypt’s Hany Abo Rida and Morocco’s Fouzi Lekjaa have retained their seats on the FIFA Council, whereas Souleiman Waberi, Ahmed Yahya, Djibrilla Hamidou and Ibrahim Kanizat have been elected as the brand new African representatives. Samuel Eto’o has received a seat on the CAF government committee. 

At Wednesday’s extraordinary basic meeting of the Confederation of African Soccer (CAF) in Cairo, Egypt, the continent’s six seats on FIFA’s highest decision-making physique got here up for election. With 49 and 35 votes respectively, Lekjaa and Rida, two long-standing powerbrokers within the African sport, received re-election for a seat on the physique that comes with an annual compensation of $250,000.

Djibrilla Hamidou of Niger, a colonel nicknamed Pelé, additionally gained 35 votes whereas Waberi of Djibouti and Yahya of Mauritania every secured 29 votes. Final 12 months, Waberi, the third vice-president of CAF, resigned from his place as president of the Djiboutian Soccer Federation after being suspended by the Ministry of Sports activities.

Comoros’ Kanizat Ibrahim, CAF’s fifth vice chairman, received the feminine quota seat, successful the vote in opposition to incumbent Council member Isha Johansen from Sierra Leone and Burundi’s Lydia Nsekera, an IOC member who beforehand sat on the Council.

There had been 12 candidates for six seats with present FIFA Council member Mathurin de Chacus of Benin withdrawing from the race on the final minute. Beforehand, Mamoutou Touré, one other present FIFA Council member, had determined to not stand once more, beneath stress from a corruption investigation at dwelling. Touré, at current, is imprisoned.

Forward of the FIFA Council poll, CAF boss Patrice Motsepe had stated: “I stated to Gianni, can we do some magic and put all of them within the FIFA Council and alter the legal guidelines of FIFA? There are 13 candidates for six positions and each single certainly one of them – whether or not it’s Pinnick, whether or not it’s Waberi, Senghor, Yahya – the record goes, Fouzi, Madame Kanizat, Isha, our great girl from Burundi. World Class! Completely. So I’ve confidence in who you suppose are the correct folks. A few of the members affiliation phoned me and stated, ‘President, I’ve by no means been so vital in the course of the elections’.”

With 28 votes, Nigeria’s Amaju Pinnick, a loyal FIFA footsoldier, missed out on retaining a seat. Yahya and Waberi each obtained 29 votes. The Mauritanian had met with different African soccer officers and FIFA officers in Nouakchott within the run-up to the elections.

Cameroonian soccer boss and former FC Barcelona legend Samuel Eto’o was certainly one of 5 officers elected unopposed to CAF’s government committee. Mustapha Ishola Raji of Liberia retained his seat whereas Wallace Karia (Tanzania), Kurt Simeon-Okraku (Ghana) and Sadi Walid (Algeria) will likely be new members. Elvis Chetty of the Seychelles misplaced his place to Feizal Sidat of Mozambique and Samir Sobha of Mauritius. Bestine Kazadi Ditabala of DR Congo received the feminine seat.

Eto’o’s election was not with out controversy. Final week, CAS had cleared Eto’o to run within the elections after he was excluded by CAF’s governance committee in January. Eto’o has a chequered observe document, however Motsepe believes that “he has a contribution to make” and “will restore Cameroon to the glory days.”

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