By Paul Nicholson
May 4 – The former senior FIFA development officer for Africa challenging for a CAF place on the FIFA Council has hit a roadblock with forces at FIFA and CAF hunting for loopholes in the rules to prevent him standing.
Zelkifili Ngoufonja (better known in football circles as Zul) is battling to keep himself in a political game that was never being played on a level playing field. He is still waiting to be given the official all-clear than he can stand in the election.
First he was challenged over the date he submitted his candidacy with CAF saying that it was beyond the deadline. This was resolved when Zul provided postal receipts to show that he fulfilled all the statute criteria.
Now he is facing the withdrawal of support from Cameroon who nominated him for the position. Having been contacted by FIFA on May 2 with questions regarding Zul, Cameroon wrote back May 3 saying that they no longer proposed Zul’s candidacy but not stating the reason why.
The question is why did Cameroon, Zul’s country of origin, and whose current FA president as well as former CAF president Issa Hayatou had endorsed his candidacy, suddenly change their decision?
The answer might lie in a case Cameroon currently has before CAS where it is challenging FIFA. The potential leverage this case provides could be one explanation.
While Cameroon may have changed their mind on their proposal (their support may still be there if Zul makes it to the vote), there is no reason for Zul to stand down as at this stage of the process as only the candidate can withdraw his candidacy once the deadline for submission has passed.
There is already precedent for this within CAF with South Sudan’s Chabul Doc in March being ruled by CAF to continue with his election campaign under CAF statute 18/7. South Sudan had withdrawn their support of his candidacy.
Zul is a popular figure in Africa and football worldwide, having been on the frontline of football development across the African region. Of the candidates standing he is the only one with real pan-regional understanding and experience across the spectrum of African football and its multiple issues – not least in its officialdom. He will be up against some heavyweight political opposition, most notably in the form of Egypt’s Hany Abu-Rida, one of the masterminds behind the fall of Issa Hayatou from the CAF presidency, and a strong supporter of FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Zul represents a refreshingly different approach to football politics – one grounded in the game itself.
“I am not offering money (to gain the votes for election), I am offering my brains and my experiences serving this continent,” he 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 he would only take half of his earnings as a FIFA council member if he was elected (they currently are paid $300,000 a year) and would put the other 50% into “the programmes I would be implementing with the members”.
But before that can happen he has to first get on to the ballot paper. And with the political interests of FIFA and CAF using their executive powers against him, that could prove harder than challenging for the seat.
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