March 3 – Senegal’s candidate to become the next leader of African football, Augustin Senghor (pictured), appears to be a step closer to throwing in the towel as a result of the apparent deal-making that has characterised the March 12 election process.
Reports out of Senegal say the emergency committee of the country’s FA has backed what is being dubbed the ‘Rabat protocol’ under which, following a recent gathering of candidates in the Moroccan capital where next week’s ballot takes place, both Senghor and Mauritania’s Ahmed would stand down to allow South African businessman Patrice Motsepe to lead the race to become the next Confederation of African Football president.
The reports said the seven members of the emergency committee accepted what has emerged as a FIFA-brokered deal that would see Senghor offered the post of CAF 1st vice-president in exchange for relinquishing his bid for the top job.
“We asked Augustin (Senghor) to accept the proposal,” a member of the committee was quoted as telling the Sud Quotidien newspaper, suggesting a formal CAF announcement was imminent.
Last week FIFA’s Chief Member Associations Officer, Veron Mosengo-Omba and Sweden’s Mathias Grafstrom met all four candidates in Rabat where the deal was apparently hatched, almost certainly orchestrated by Infantino who is widely reported to favour Motsepe to take over from Ahmad Ahmad.
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