By David Gold
September 28 – Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Issa Hayatou (pictured left) has welcomed a delegation from South Sudan to his office in Cairo, as the two-month-old state looks to receive admission into the FIFA family.
The delegation, which was led by Duop Puoch Joak, discussed the country’s application to FIFA, which is expected to be successful.
CAF’s support will be crucial in the bid, and Hayatou pledged support to the country, which was formed in July following a vote to cede from the formerly war torn Sudan.
One member of the South Sudanese party, Rodolf Andrea Ojika, said on the CAF website that South Sudan “has experienced administrators and various facilities in place, and were excited to be at CAF headquarters to request CAF for support towards their admission into the International Football family.”
The confederation is expected to send a delegation to the country later this year to assess its facilities, and Hayatou confirmed that they would be compiling a report for the CAF General Assembly in February 2012, so that South Sudan could be accepted at the meeting as the continent’s 54th member.
When that goes ahead, CAF would be in a position to support their FIFA application through the submission of a report recommending South Sudan’s acceptance as a member.
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