November 16 – Already facing a multi-pronged challenge to his power base, Ahmad Ahmad, President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has temporarily handed over the reins to CAF first vice president Constant Omari while he completes his convalescence after contracting Covid-19.
A brief statement on the CAF website said that on medical advice Ahmad, discharged last week from a hospital in Cairo where he had been under observation, will rest for “at least 20 days during which he is requested to limit his efforts so as to totally restore his energy.”
“This unavailability temporarily makes it impossible to conduct the normal duties linked to a function which requires good health. In this situation, the first Vice-President Mr Omari Constant will take the interim lead of the CAF executive until 30th November 2020.”
Omari is a key Ahmad ally and last year replaced Nigerian FA boss Amaju Pinnick as CAF 1st vice president
In October, Ahmad declared his intention to stand for re-election in the CAF presidential elections. Last week Mauritania’s Ahmed Yahya, Ivory Coast’s Jacques Anouma and South African mining magnate Patrice Motsepe all announced they want to run in the elections for the top job in African football.
Ahmad, a solid supporter of Infantino, is the subject of a long-standing FIFA Ethics investigation into multiple allegations of corruption and sexual harassment.
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