Patrice Motsepe: With the backing of Fifa chief Gianni Infantino, the Mamelodi Sundowns owner has been named as the replacement for outgoing Ahmad Ahmad at Friday's Caf Ordinary General Assembly.
#CAFElections2021: Pinnick returns as CAF Vice President
The Nigeria Football Federation boss returns to CAF as the fifth Vice President
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Nigeria’s Amaju Pinnick has emerged as one of the Vice Presidents of the Confederation of African Football [CAF] at the ongoing 43rd Ordinary General Assembly taking place in Rabat, Morocco.
The Nigeria Football Federation boss is now the fifth Vice President in the new arrangement by the continent’s football governing body who hitherto had only three vice presidents.
Before this latest return, Pinnick was CAF First Vice President between September 2018 and July 2019 under former CAF president, Ahmad Ahmad.
Asked to explain why he took the decision to quit the race, which had attracted Amaju Pinnick of Nigeria, Malawi’s Walter Nyamilandou, Tanzania’s Wallace Karia, and Andrew Kamanga of Zambia, Mwendwa said: “Many factors.”
When pressed further to explain the factors, Mwendwa said he was inside the congress and was not in a position to give more details.
His decision to quit the race came hours after Tanzania’s Karia also threw in the towel from contesting in the same post.
Karia confirmed through a statement obtained by
Goal which read: Tanzania Football Federation President [Wallace] Karia has withdrawn from the African Anglophone Fifa Council representative race.
After wider consultation with federation presidents from the Cecafa region, where he is the president, Karia has decided to quit the race in order to put more energy and focus on TFF and Cecafa. After supporting Patrice Motsepe of South Africa in the presidential race, there is only one position at Fifa Council for the Anglophone nations remaining.
Mathurin de Chacus of Benin and Mali s Mamadou Toure will fight for the Francophone slot while Hany Abo Rida of Egypt, Morocco s Fouzi Lekjaa and Khreddine Zetchi of Algeria will face off in the race for the Spanish/Arabic/ Portuguese slot.
The elections will be conducted on March 13 in Morocco, where Mamelodi Sundowns owner and South African business tiger Patrice Motsepe is expected to be coronated as the new Caf supremo as he is the only remaining presidential candidate standing.