By Andrew Warshaw
March 27 – First the president, now his trusted number two. The wind of change sweeping through African football following the stunning election defeat of Issa Hayatou has quickly snared his deputy and chief ally with Confederation of African Football (CAF) secretary general Hicham El Amrani resigning on Sunday, just over a week after Hayatou was ousted from power by Madagascar’s Ahmad Ahmad.
In a letter to CAF members, El Amrani, whose position became all but untenable when Hayatou was crushed, said he would be departing today but gave no specific reason.
“It is with great regret that I hereby inform you that I am leaving today my position as CAF General Secretary, after eight years spent within the Confederation of African Football,” El Amrani wrote in a letter sent to all federations across Africa.
The 37-year-old Moroccan had been in the position for the past six years and much intrigue now focusses on who will serve as Ahmad’s number two. In the interim, deputy General Secretary, Essam Ahmed, an Egyptian, will take on the role until further notice.
As well as Hayatou being deposed after three decades, six of his key colleagues lost their positions on CAF’s executive committee.
Ahmad reportedly chaired a meeting with his staff at CAF headquarters in Cairo late on Sunday when he accepted El Amrani’s resignation.
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