Who to take over Ahmad Ahmad's throne as CAF president?

Since the fall of the Malagasy in the summer of 2019, the maneuvers to be elected new president of the African Football Confederation (CAF) have stirred the continent between four candidates.

The ballot boxes will deliver their verdict on March 12 in Rabat.

Suspended for five years by Fifa on suspicion of corruption, Ahmad Ahmad is not expected to stand again, even if he was authorized to do so by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), where he is appealed on March 2.

Augustin Senghor (Senegal), Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania), Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast) and Patrice Motsepe (South Africa) have been leading an intense campaign for several weeks and counting their supporters

The voting system, one vote for each of the 54 federations, "announces a disputed election," Gaël Mahé, from the Sports global management agency, organizer of selection matches in Africa, told AFP.

Overview of the forces involved:

• Jacques

Anouma, the elder

Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast, 69 years old), financier, ex-president of the Ivorian Federation (2002-2011), former member of the FIFA Executive Committee.

I met today, at Sofitel Rabat, Mr. GIANNI INFANTINO, President of @fifacom_fr


It was a real pleasure to see this long-time friend again.

Forward for the victory of March 12, 2021. # jacaf2021 #reconstruirelefootballafricain #anouma_for_caf pic.twitter.com/VGOcSekYEF

- Jacques Anouma (@Jacques_Anouma) February 25, 2021

Anouma has proven himself as an effective manager of the heyday of the "Elephants" of the Didier Drogba era, who qualified for their first World Cups in 2010 and 2014.

Already a candidate in 2013 to lead CAF, he was dismissed by an "opportune" rule change, because he did not sit on the CAF Executive Committee as a member but as a representative of Fifa ...

"Anouma is 69 years old, he is one year from the age limit and can only run for this mandate," recalls Bacary Cissé, editor-in-chief of Record newspaper in Senegal.

Affected by Covid-19, he was only recently able to start his campaign, but he knows the inner workings of CAF.

Supporters

: Benin, Kenya

The +: football business experience

The -: close to the age limit

• Patrice Tlhopan Motsepe, the surprise

Patrice Tlhopan Motsepe (South Africa, 58), businessman, president of the Mamelodi Sundowns club since 2003.

🇿🇦 |

Patrice MOTSEPE (1962-) is a businessman He became the first black billionaire in South Africa and the first black partner of a South African law firm He invests a lot for the black populations of Africa South in favor of health or education pic.twitter.com/mh48rnW1fn

- Grégory Gace 🇬🇵 (@gace_gregory) February 20, 2021

This captain of the mining industry, brother-in-law of the President of the Republic Cyril Ramaphosa, is the least known of the four candidates.

Many observers see him as Fifa's favorite candidate.

The president of the South African federation, Danny Jordaan, praises "his finesse in business, his knowledge of governance and global business".

For Bacary Cissé, "Fifa wants to parachute Motsepe in African football, but his profile does not stick. He is not even president of a federation. He does not even have time to take care of his club!"

Supporters:

Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Botswana

The +: success as an entrepreneur and as a club president

The -: very busy businessman, not very accessible

• Augustin Emmanuel Senghor, the experienced

Augustin Emmanuel Senghor (Senegal, 55), lawyer, president of US Gorée and president of the Senegalese Federation since August 2009.

The candidate for the presidency of the caf #AugustinSenghor arrived in Conakry this evening to meet the Guinean authorities.

He was received by the pdt #antonioSouare of Feguifoot and the ambassador of Senegal in Guinea #caf #election #Campagne pic.twitter.com/D6yY19mODT

- sega diallo (@segadiallo) February 24, 2021

Unofficial heir to Ahmad, "Senghor is the best of the four, according to a connoisseur of African football. Mayor of Gorée, president of US Gorée, he knows how to manage a club and a federation, and above all he has no pot . "

Perfectly English-speaking, Senghor presents himself as "a pan-Africanist candidate", he explains to AFP, "because today my feeling is that we have a balkanized CAF, by the statutes, by the regional unions but also by language groups ".

Its goal is to "tend towards the professionalization of African football", he continues.

Continuing to promote club football, in particular through a more attractive African Champions League, will prevent the untimely departure of many of our young people to Europe ".

Supporters

: Gabon, Gambia

The +: experience (club and federation), English-speaking

The -: less network

• Ahmed Yahya, the young wolf

Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania, 44), businessman, president of the Mauritanian Federation

The candidacy for the presidency of the African Football Confederation of Ahmed Yahya has been validated # Lejournalinfo pic.twitter.com/aR6LwsAoci

- Le Journal Info (@journal_info) January 27, 2021

The youngest of the four may not have the experience of old diplomats, but he has a solid argument: "I have brought Mauritanian football out of lethargy," he told AFP.

“When I arrived, no infrastructure existed, Mauritania was 206th out of 209 in the Fifa rankings, continues Yahya. But we worked as a team, with an executive office, the State and economic partners supported this project, we won more than 100 places in the Fifa rankings, participated in our first CAN (2019) and organized our first big competition, the CAN U-20. "

"I am young, but also the experience of more than 20 years in the world of football," he pleads.

Supporters

: Uganda, Djibouti and Morocco

The pros: young, has proven himself with the emergence of football in his country

The -: young, less powerful federation

With AFP

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