CAF Presidency: Patrice Motsepe will finally reveal his cards
South African Patrice Motsepe, in September 2019. Noam Galai / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
Text by: David Kalfa Follow
4 min
Patrice Motsepe will present his program on February 25 for the election of the president of the African Football Confederation (CAF) on March 12, 2021. Since the surprise announcement in November of his candidacy, the South African billionaire has been very discreet in the media.
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Patrice Motsepe will finally speak on his candidacy for the presidency of the African Football Confederation (
CAF
).
After three and a half months of waiting, the South African billionaire will present his "
manifesto
" to the media on February 25.
He confirmed this during a meeting of the Council of Football Associations in Southern Africa (COSAFA)
attended by
Gianni Infantino, the President of the International Federation (
FIFA
).
A COSAFA who also expressed full support for him through the voice of its president, Philip Chiyangwa.
The latter in passing refused that Patrice Motsepe answer one of the very rare questions of the journalists present on the spot:
why is he a candidate for the presidency of CAF
?
His motivations?
His program for Confederation?
Its position on an African Cup of Nations organized every four years rather than every two years?
The man who made his fortune in the mining sector has not let anything filter, so far, while his three rivals, the Ivorian Jacques Anouma, the Senegalese Augustin Senghor and the Mauritanian Ahmed Yahya, have abundantly exposed their projects, in in recent weeks.
In recent months, the magnate has focused on going to convince the presidents of federations who will vote at the elective General Assembly in Rabat.
Chaperoned by the president of the South African Federation (SAFA) Danny Jordaan, Patrice Motsepe thus went to meet a world he only partially knows, even if he is the boss of the Mamelodi Sundowns club.
In December, he also invited many personalities of the African round ball to the 50 years of training based in Pretoria.
"
We have traveled across the continent, in East Africa, North Africa
,
West Africa
," explained the one who has the support of several associations in these sub-regions.
And today, we are back to continue this process which consists of listening but also of engaging
”.
A meeting between Gianni Infantino and Cyril Ramaphosa
After the COSAFA General Assembly in Johannesburg, Gianni Infantino traveled to Cape Town to meet with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as he did with several other heads of state
during his African tour.
There is no doubt that the two men mentioned the candidacy of Patrice Motsepe.
The latter, however, did not obtain frank and official support from the South African authorities.
And for good reason:
Cyril Ramaphosa and Motsepe are brothers-in-law
, which can create fears of a conflict of interest in the event of Patrice Motsepe's accession to the presidency of CAF.
In a forum, the South African Mpho Tsedu, head of the Institute of Foreign Affairs, considers that this lack of sponsorship is a handicap: “
In essence, Motsepe's candidacy has no political support and is therefore not necessarily a candidacy supported by South Africa.
"
Danny Jordaan however showed his confidence, recalling that the presence of Gianni Infantino in 2017 had brought luck to Malagasy Ahmad, elected at the head of CAF that year.
“
The last time the FIFA president came to the region, the candidate from Southern Africa became the president of CAF.
And here it is again.
Success leads to success
”, slipped the boss of SAFA.
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