By Andrew Warshaw
March 7 – Danny Jordaan (pictured), the public face of the 2010 South Africa World Cup, has dramatically pulled out of the race to gain a place on FIFA’s ruling Council, plunging this month’s African regional elections into chaos and confusion.
Jordaan, head of the South African FA (SAFA) who has long harboured ambitions of getting his global political footballing career back on track, has withdrawn at the same time as his main rival, meaning there will not be enough candidates to fill Africa’s allotted slots at FIFA’s inner sanctum – almost certainly forcing a subsequent ballot. This, according to local reports, will likely happen in May ahead of the FIFA Congress in Bahrain.
South Sudan’s Chabur Goc Alei had been the only person standing between Jordaan and a place on the FIFA council in the Open category after Zambia’s Kalusha Bwalya had already announced he wouldn’t stand. But Alei, too, withdrew from the March 16 ballot.
As news of Jordaan’s surprise move reverberated through the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and beyond, the reasons and repercussions prompted immediate conjecture.
Intriguingly, Jordaan pulled out just hours before FIFA published results of integrity checks into all the candidates, suggesting he knew what was coming. By the time FIFA announced that 10 candidates had passed the checks Jordaan had already sent in his letter of withdrawal.
The bombshell development is bound to increase speculation that Jordaan is being investigated as part of the US-led probe into corruption that has so far led to more than 40 individuals and entities being indicted on bribery and fraud charges. As yet unresolved is the $10 million payment made by the South African FA that ended up in the hands of notorious former FIFA powerbroker and CONCACAF boss Jack Warner, a sum FIFA says was a bribe but which South African authorities have always countered was completely above board.
To add even more mystery to the story, Jordaan had just won a month-long legal fight to move a potentially powerful opponent from his category for FIFA Council. He argued successfully that Egypt’s Hany Abu Rida could not compete in the Open category as he had originally entered in the category reserved for candidates from Arabic-speaking countries. But now that fight is suddenly rendered redundant.
Jordaan’s withdrawal means Guinea’s Almamy Kabele Camara will be elected unopposed from the Open section. In all, Africa has seven FIFA Council places. One is reserved for the winner of next week’s CAF presidential election and another for a female candidate, the latter certain to go to Lydia Nsekera of Burundi, the only woman in the field.
The other five places are divided into language groups plus the afore-mentioned Open category. There is one place and two candidates in the Arabic language category‚ one place and two candidates in the Anglophone category, and one place for two Francophone candidates.
Jordaan’s unexpected move not only affects FIFA Council membership but opens up a far bigger picture, one which makes Ahmad Ahmad, the lone challenger to Issa Hayatou’s long reign at the head of African football, look increasingly vulnerable.
Ahmad’s campaign had appeared to be picking up steam but the removal of one of his main allies and a key member of the 14-nation Council of Southern Africa Football Associations will be interpreted as a major setback.
The Madagascan’s support base is suddenly in danger of disintegrating after three other COSAFA members, the Comoros Islands, Mauritius and Zambia, strongly indicated they will switch support to Hayatou.
Jordaan’s withdrawal will also indirectly be a blow to Gianni Infantino who is understood to be privately campaigning for Ahmad to unseat Hayatou with whom he is said to have “irreconcilable differences”. Infantino insists he is neutral and playing no role though was in Africa last week meeting African presidents in informal gatherings.
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