Politicos gather for CAF Congress in Marrakech

Danny Jordaan

By Osasu Obayiuwana in Marrakech
March 7 – With Issa Hayatou guaranteed re-election to the presidency of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the spotlight at the CAF Congress, in Marrakech this weekend, now falls on the battle for CAF executive committee places. 

Competition for a seat at Africa’s top football table is fierce, especially in the Western and Southern African regions. Danny Jordaan (pictured), the CEO of the 2010 World Cup Organising Committee and vice-president of the South African Football Association (SAFA), is going for a second shot at winning one of the Southern African regional seats on the CAF board.

Jordaan is up against five other candidates, including Seychelles Suketu Patel, CAF’s first vice-president.  

Internal divisions within COSAFA, the Southern African regional body, are deep and longstanding, so picking clear winners is not straightforward.

The same applies within the West African Football Union (WAFU). Disgraced Malian Amadou Diakite, is back and chasing one of two available regional seats, following the expiration of his FIFA ban last year.

Augustin Senghor, the straight-talking and blunt president of the Senegal Football Federation, will offer strong opposition.

African Cup of Nations winners Nigeria have been absent from the corridors of political power in the AFC since 2010, when Amos Adamu was banned for unethical conduct, over the 2018/2022 World Cup bid race.

Aminu Maigari, president of the Nigeria Football Federation, is up against Benin’s Anjorin Moucharafou (a known acolyte of Hayatou) and Niger’s Hima Souley in a bid to bring CAF board representation to Africa’s most populous country.

See Osasu Obayiuwana’s preview of the CAF Congress. Osasu, one of the world’s leading writers on the African game, will be reporting all the news from the CAF Congress in Marrakech starting Friday March 8. Contact him at moc.l1734869254labto1734869254ofdlr1734869254owedi1734869254sni@a1734869254nawui1734869254yabo.1734869254usaso1734869254