Motsepe set to become CAF president after FIFA intervention

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has brokered a deal to clear the path for Patrice Motsepe to become the Confederation of African Football president after the other three contenders withdrew over the weekend and backed the South African billionaire.

The CAF election is scheduled for Rabat, Morocco on Friday.

FIFA stated that the agreement for the other candidates Augustin Senghor of Senegal, Jacques Anouma of Cote d’Ivoire and Ahmed Yahya of Mauritania to withdraw from the upcoming election for Motsepe was reached after meetings in Rabat, Morocco, last week. 

The world body also said the deal was confirmed at another meeting on Saturday in Mauritania.

FIFA said Motsepe would merge all the best plans of the other candidates and implement a common programme when he becomes CAF president.

“The four leaders have reiterated that what unites them is much stronger than what could potentially divide them,” FIFA said in a statement on Sunday. “This was the reason it was decided that they should join forces and form a team under the leadership of Patrice Motsepe.”

Motsepe, 59, is the owner of South African club Mamelodi Sundowns and a mining magnate as well as the brother-in-law of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He is estimated to be worth around $3 billion and one of Africa’s richest men.

He is now very close to being elected CAF president with the only possible hurdle coming from embattled incumbent Ahmad Ahmad. 

The disgraced president is seeking to overturn a five-year FIFA ban for corruption and has taken his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Ahmad, who took over from Issa Hayatou in 2017, wants the ban overturned and is asking to be allowed to contest in the election. CAS is expected to issue a verdict on Monday.

However, even if Ahmad, who is from Madagascar, is given the green light to contest, it believed that Motsepe has enough votes locked in to easily win the election.