By Paul Nicholson
April 27 – The African race for a position on the FIFA Council has a new competitor. Former FIFA senior development manager for Africa, Zelkifili Ngoufonja (better known in football circles as Zul), has put himself and is campaigning on a platform of transparency, youth development and a good deal for Africa at FIFA.
Zul resigned from FIFA’s staff last month after five years with the world governing body at the heart of its African development programmes – most of which have been dismantled in FIFA’s new era of austerity on the continent which has seen all its development offices closed and staff fired without compensation.
A Cameroonian by birth, Zul has been nominated by the Cameroon FA and has the blessing of former CAF president Issa Hayatou. That might not be a positive in a new African geography which is deeply polarised around supporters of FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Zul is refreshingly less concerned about the personal political agendas in play, but is passionate about what he sees as the enormous potential for Africa on the world stage.
“I am not offering money (to gain the votes for election), I am offering my brains and my experiences serving this continent,” Zul said.
“I believe I can very effectively serve the continent. I am not going to be there (on the FIFA Council) to clap hands. I want to defend the interests of the continent…Africa can prove it is guided by other things than money.”
Zul says that African focus should be on getting quality representation at FIFA that will deliver the programmes and support the countries most needs. A key election advantage he has in this respect is that having worked across Africa he knows exactly where help is needed and how he can “work for the whole continent”.
If elected he would be the youngest member of FIFA’s Council at 39. As befits what you might expect of potentially its youngest member, Zul said he would “focus on youth programmes for boys and girls, admin help and financial, and help develop the football structure of countries that is not coming under the FAs. Many of our youth are passing to youth without any control. There is no structure.”
He also believes that members need more help developing competitions and that they need to be better informed about what is happening at FIFA. “This is not happening now and they are not aware of what is being discussed. We need to build a bridge between African members and other confederation members through partnerships and development.”
Not afraid to put his own money where his mouth is, Zul says he would only take half of his earnings as a council member (they currently are paid $300,000 a year) and would put the other 50% into “the programmes I would be implementing with the members”.
Noble promises and principles from a candidate entering an election race in a confederation where integrity has recently proven not to be a pre-requisite for high office.
Zul will be up against the powerful Egyptian Hany Abu-Rida who has served on FIFA’s executive committee in the past and was instrumental behind the scenes in the overthrow of Hayatou. Abu-Rida is also believed to be instrumental in the Egyptian-led assault on the CAF deal with Lagardere via Presentation Sports, a company his representatives say he doesn’t own but to whose executive he is closely linked.
CAF has still to release the full list of contenders for the FIFA Council position. One hopes for a free, open and fair election race.
But with reports from Africa that CAF is already trying to claim that Zul’s candidacy was admitted too late (when asked by Insideworldfootball he provided the postal receipts to prove otherwise), this looks like being another battle where integrity will take another back seat to FIFA’s depressing self interests.
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