Dr Patrice Motsepe has secured a second four-year term as President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) following an uncontested re-election at the 14th CAF Extraordinary General Assembly in Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday.
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Motsepe, who initially remained reserved about seeking re-election, confirmed his decision in October 2024 after multiple requests from CAF member association presidents and key football stakeholders.
“The goal remains making African football competitive on the international stage, stabilizing finances, and investing in infrastructure that allows our teams and players to thrive,” Motsepe said after his re-election.
Since taking office in 2021, the South African businessman has overseen a financial turnaround for CAF, which was struggling after the termination of its $1 billion TV rights deal with Lagard.
Under his leadership, CAF has settled past debts, increased prize money for its competitions, and enhanced financial support for member associations.
The recent Africa Cup of Nations in Cote D’Ivoire, which drew a record global audience of 2 billion viewers, was among the highlights of his tenure, with CAF reporting a $72 million profit from the tournament.
Motsepe succeeded Ahmad Ahmad of Madagascar, who was banned for corruption, and has since worked closely with FIFA to restore stability and credibility to African football.
Motsepe said there are now only 12 CAF members, compared to 38 in recent years, which do not have stadiums certified for international games. Those include qualifiers for the World Cup and African Cup of Nations which must be played in neutral countries, often Morocco.
“But for us it is 12 too many,” the CAF president said, promising to engage more with private financiers. “You cannot develop football in any country in Africa if the national teams and clubs do not play in front of their supporters.”
Africa has a record nine guaranteed places at the first 48-team men’s World Cup next year being hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Morocco became the first African team ever to reach the semifinals.
Four African teams will play at the 32-team Club World Cup.
Meanwhile, Eto’o, president of the Cameroon Football Federation, was elected unopposed as a representative for the central African region on the executive committee less than a week after winning an appeal to stand for the post.
He was excluded by CAF’s governance committee in January but appealed his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who ruled in his favour.
Former World Cup footballer Eto’o had been twice banned last year.
In September, FIFA banned him from attending the national team’s matches for six months for violating disciplinary regulations, after allegedly verbally abusing match officials at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.
Earlier in the year, CAF banned Eto’o after an inquiry into purported breaches of its ethical and integrity standards when he took up a role as ambassador for a betting company.
The ban and a $200,000 fine were later lifted on appeal.
There were five others elected unopposed with:
✓ Mustapha Ishola Raji of Liberia retaining his seat for another four years
✓ Bestine Kazadi Ditabala – female representative from the Democratic Republic of Congo
✓ Wallace Karia – Tanzania
✓ Kurt Simeon-Okraku – Ghana
✓ Sadi Walid – Algeria are new to the Committee
Author: Mujuni Henry
JUNIITV
