September 22 – Any hopes rivals to Sepp Blatter might have in swaying the African vote away from the present incumbent at next year’s Fifa presidential election look like finding it tough going.
African football leaders have been solidly behind Blatter and have now reiterated that stance eight months before the late May election.
The Confederation of African Football let their position be known following a meeting of its executive committee in Addis Ababa, a symbolic boost for 78-year-old Blatter, who announced this month he would be standing for a fifth term.
“Africa will offer unanimous support to FA president Sepp Blatter at the next elective assembly,” CAF general secretary Hicham el Amrani told a news conference.
Although the statement does not bind the 54 national associations of CAF to vote for Blatter, most are likely to go that way, especially after he was instrumental in bringing the World Cup to the African continent for the first time in 2010.
CAF held a series of meetings in the Ethiopian capital and chose Cameroon (2019), Cote d’Ivoire (2021) and Guinea (2023) as Africa Cup of Nations hosts.
As yet, Blatter has only one official challenge in former FIFA deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne but under the rules he needs at least five member states to nominate him. Blatter is due to announce his candidacy formally later this week to his FIFA excutive committee.
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