Mauritanian Ould Yahya is running for president of the Confederation of African Football

President of the Mauritanian Football Association, Ahmed Ould Yahya, joined the list of candidates for the presidency of the Confederation of African Football, scheduled for March 12 in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.

Yahya, a member of the African Union Executive Committee and president of the Mauritanian Federation since 2011, wrote on his Twitter account: "In the interest of developing African football, and after much thought and discussions, I decided to present my candidature for the presidency of the Confederation of African Football."

The candidacy of Yahya, 44, the former president of FC Nouadhibou, hours after the South African Federation announced on Monday the nomination of businessman and president of Mamelodi Sundowns billionaire club Patrice Mutsibi for the presidency of the Confederation.

After his election as president of the local federation in 2011, Ould Yahya, who witnessed the historic qualification of Mauritania to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, said, "The inactivity that Mauritanian football suffers from is not inevitable until we surrender to it, but it is a disease that needs treatment."

And Yahya became the fourth candidate for the presidency of the continental federation, after the current president of Malagasy Ahmed Ahmed, Ajji Jacques Anuma and Mozebi.

In late October, Ahmed announced his candidacy for a second term, despite facing financial corruption allegations that he had always denied, after he reached the presidency in 2017, ending a 29-year sentence for Issa Hayatou, receiving 34 votes against 20 for the Cameroonian.

A press report by the British BBC reported on October 23 that Ahmed had the support of 46 federations out of 54, and a few days later the network published a second report indicating the possibility of preventing Ahmed from continuing his candidacy by the Ethics Committee of the International Federation. ".

Any candidate must obtain the designation of three national federations, including that of his country.

The next elections are scheduled to be held on March 12 in Rabat, noting that the nomination deadline closes on November 12.

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