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The 43rd CAF General Assembly, meeting yesterday, March 12 in Rabat, Morocco, elected Dr. Patrice Motsepe, as President of CAF.
Dr Motsepe, who becomes the seventh person to occupy the position of CAF President, begins his four-year term after being elected unopposed by the Member Associations of CAF, present in Rabat.
Going to the General Assembly, Africa adopted a unity stance which saw other three candidates, namely Augustin Senghor, Ahmed Yahya and Jacques Anouma withdraw from the race to be President.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who was in attendance in Rabat in his remarks in the General Assembly commended the African Member Associates for the unity they have displayed in the last few weeks.Dr. Motsepe, 59, is an accomplished South African businessman and philanthropist and no stranger to football. For almost two decades, he has been the President of a South African club, Mamelodi Sundowns.
In his first address as CAF President, Dr Motsepe spoke about creating a « new CAF » that will take African football to new heights.
“I’m very excited. There is a great deal of urgency of getting things done. There is a going to be a lot of work and a lot of running. We have to make sure that African football is not just competitive but globally successful. Africa spends millions of dollars every year paying for tv rights of leagues outside Africa. There is a need to build our own products and we will succeed.
“The face of African football will never be the same again. 95% of our conversations will be about football and that is fine but there must be that 5% where we discuss the importance of the private sector partnerships. We need to restore the pride, the dignity and the respect of Africa,” said Dr Motsepe.
Dr Motsepe has committed to visiting each of the 54 Member Associates of CAF as part of a plan to understand the problems facing Member Associates and also to assist in creating better relations with the corporate world.
The supreme body of CAF also approved important decisions:
• The activity report and financial statements as of June 30, 2020, as well as the budget for 2021-2022 estimated at $ 118 million, of which $97 million will be devoted to football development.
• The increase in the number of Vice-Presidents from three to five in order to ensure better representation of all the components of CAF within the Bureau of the Executive Committee
• Better precision in the limits of the exercise of eligibility control by the governance committee of CAF, in particular for the President and members of the FIFA Council.
• The modification of the conditions of admission to the quality of members of the organization.
