By Andrew Warshaw
March 6 – Djibouti is the latest country to come out publicly and say it is supporting the challenger Ahmad Ahmad (pictured) in the forthcoming Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidential election in a move that appears to go against the official stance of the Council for East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) whose members are officially backing Issa Hayatou.
The president of the Djibouti Football Association, Souleiman Hassan Waberi says he will vote for change on March 16 in what is shaping up as a close contest.
“Our vote will go for Ahmad,” he told the BBC. “We voted for change during the FIFA elections to bring in Gianni Infantino and we are also in for change now.”
The CECAFA region has 11 members; Djibouti, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Ahmad, the Madagascar FA President whose candidacy is gaining momentum in the same way that Gianni Infantino picked up late crucial support in the FIFA presidential election, already has the backing of the 14-strong Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) and, controversially, from Nigeria FA President, Amaju Pinnick whose own colleagues accuse him of speaking out of turn.
Hayatou, who has presided over African football since 1988, is seeking an eighth term. He had previously stated this would be his last until a change of regulations helped him change his mind. In 2015, CAF voted to change the statutes which previously stopped officials serving past the age of 70.
Ahmad, meanwhile, has pledged to make decision making among CAF’s 54 members more collective rather than by an elite few.
“I am not challenging Issa Hayatou, I am only doing what my colleagues want me to do,” he said. “I am not afraid of failure because I have my job in my country. Having said that, I am of the opinion that CAF must be run collectively be the FAs presidents and not by a few individuals, who are not even working in their countries’ football associations.
“I also believe that we must give the legends of the game, those who played football at the highest level, the opportunity to impact the way the game is run in Africa. What we have now is a situation where a few of them are paraded round the stadia each time we have a competition. They are used as ornaments in Africa when everywhere else football legends are at the forefront helping to develop the game. These legends made African football what it is today and I plan to work with them to help our football grow.”
Ahmad says lack of a credible governance structure has prevented potential sponsors getting on board.
“Good governance and honesty will attract sponsors top CAF. We should also be able to reinvest the money we make from various sources. It is only in CAF that we prefer to keep money in banks and admire it when the affiliate bodies have pressing needs.
“We have to build the game from the small community team to the national team. That can only happen when there is transparency in the administration of the game. My administration will be all inclusive, where the media and the legends will have strong roles to play.”
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