CAF president Patrice Motsepe will sail through unopposed following the closure of the nomination deadline without any other candidatee expressing an interest to challenge him.
The deadline for interested candidates to submit their nominations closed on Tuesday November 12 without a rival candidate for the former Mamelodi Sundowns chairman, meaning he will sail through unopposed at next year’s election.
Motsepe came into office in 2021 with his first term marked with a lot of positives and he had to yield to pressure from African FA heads and sponsors to run for a second term last month.
He can now start planning for a second term even before the elective congress is held in March 2025 and what will interest him now is the composition of his executive as two of the current vice presidents are contesting for seats elsewhere.
What has Motsepe achieved in his first term?
Djibouti’s Souleiman Waberi and Kanizat Ibrahim from Comoros, who are among CAF’s vice presidents, are going for the FIFA Council seat, alongside Egyptian FA president Hany Abou Rida, who was tipped to challenge Motsepe for the CAF top seat.
Motsepe’s first term has been marked with major transformation on the continent that has elevated African football, with increased revenue as well as prize money in various competitions, with the success of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations credited to him.
CAF released healthy financial figures for the 2022/23 financial year during last month’s congress in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with losses reducing from R507 million to R162 million in the previous year with projections of a net profit of R205 million in the coming financial year.
The continental football governing body is also targeting revenues of up to $1 billion in the next eight years.
