Banned CAF President Can't Run for Re-election

(ATR) The Confederation of African Football (CAF) rules that "outgoing president" Ahmad Ahmad is not eligible to run for re-election in March.

The decision by the CAF governance committee follows Ahmad being banned for five years by world governing body FIFA in November for a number of ethics violations.

CAF first vice-president Constant Omari has been serving as interim president due to Ahmad’s ban. The Madagascan has appealed the FIFA ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Ahmad, 60, who was also a FIFA vice-president, was found by FIFA’s ethics committee to have breached codes relating to duty of loyalty, offering and accepting gifts, abuse of position and misappropriation of funds.

In addition to the five-year ban, Ahmad was also fined CHF 200,000 ($225,740).

While Ahmad cannot run for another four-year term, CAF announced that two of the other four presidential candidates have been authorized to appear on the ballot at the Elective Ordinary General Assembly scheduled for March 12 in Rabat, Morocco.

They are Augustin Senghor, 55, of Senegal and Jacques Anouma, 69, of Cote d’Ivoire.

Senghor is the Senegalese Football Federation president and a member of the CAF executive committee.

Anouma is the former president of the Ivorian Football Federation and a former member of the FIFA executive committee.

Two other candidates require additional checks before their candidacies are finalized.

Ahmed Yahya, 44, is the president of the Mauritanian Football Federation and a CAF executive committee member.

Patrice Motsepe, 58, is a South African mining billionaire who is club president of Mamelodi Sundowns FC.

CAF says a hearing on these candidates will be organized in Cairo on January 28. At that time, a final decision on three of the 16 candidates for executive committee positions will also be made.

Written by Gerard Farek

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