CAF elections: A new era beckons

The Confederation of African football elections have come and gone but the reverberations will linger for a long time to come.  As a football aficionado myself I followed the whole saga up close and personal though was not on ground in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The wind of change that is palpably sweeping across the globe in the political stratosphere has enveloped the ‘beautiful game’ of football and its administrative dynamics

A new dawn was heralded with the ascension to power (2017-2021) of a man from the tiny south eastern coast of Africa called Madagascar.  Ahmad Ahmad, the 57 year old Malagasy man who was named twice comes from the fourth largest island in the world with a population the size of Lagos state(No pun intended) You will expect that such a man will be more adept at swimming than navigating the murky waters of continental football but it is noteworthy that prior to his ascent to the top of African football he was a coach and administrator in his native Country.

It seems the  script was well  written right from when Amaju Pinnick; NFF president invited the FA chairmen of African countries under the guise of receiving FIFA president Swiss/Italian born(he has dual  nationality) Gianni Infantino to Abuja in the last quarter of 2016 to hatch  the coup. The plan was to have a change of guard and have the young and reform minded Turks chart a new course for the game and bring about significant reform for the collective fillip of African football. A lot of damage had been done in the latter years of Hayatou and public as well as continental good could no longer be assured.

The New order was thus in the works and Issa Hayatou had to go. He had been on the saddle for nearly three decades, 29 years to be precise. The ex-basketballer and athlete from Garoua in northern Cameroon had presided over a cesspool of corruption though largely by association and condoning graft even as he was alleged to have received bungs from  the defunct Swiss marketing company ISL. In the twilight of his tenure he wanted to perpetuate himself in power and at 70 he wanted to tele-guide and rewrite the rules of CAF but waiting in the wings were the new technocrats who wanted to usher in a new dawn and offer the wave of change. The power levers and apparatchik has now moved for the first time to Southern Africa.

One of the dark spots prior to the election was the instruction handed down by Nigeria’s sports minister Solomon Dalung. The beret and boy scout khaki donning figure told Amaju to vote for Hayatou and his rationale was premised  on the country’s  support for Nigeria’s fight against  Boko haram terrorists .It was a puerile attempt at showing solidarity on a sporting pedestal. It was quite laughable to boot.  Do not ask me who Amaju in turn voted for as your guess is as good as mine .Especially against the backdrop of the secret ballot system adopted for votes. The 34 votes to 20 in favor of Ahmad pointed to the overwhelming  support he had and put paid  to Issa Hayatou’s gerontocracy.

It is very instructive to note here that Amaju Melvin Pinnick’s election as an executive CAF member for West Africa zone B represents a major denoument  for Nigerian football.  Like him or hate him, he is one of the foremost progressive  voices  championing a new vista for African football and it is  expected he will bring a new approach to the commercial end of CAF not only in terms of sponsorships but broadcast rights which have been a bit  opaque. He has what it takes to bring Nigeria back to its rightful position in the Politics of CAF and he is properly aligned in FIFA as well

A wave of reform is needed in CAF and this can only be injected with new blood, youthful verve, fervor, vim and gusto. The new head honchos at the helm will be judged by how well they transform the confederation into a continental powerhouse that seeks to promote and develop the game. New ideas and innovation are needed to make CAF a bastion of world football. This is further helped by the sense of inclusion provided with the admission of the Indian ocean island of Zanzibar as the 55th member of the association as it was hitherto an associate member. One of the last vestiges of the old order Moroccan Hicham El Amrani has just resigned his position as Secretary General of CAF.

Ahmad Ahmad and his team have their work cut out for them. The easy part is getting elected but  the hard part is making the desired impact and making African football work again in the comity of Nations. Like the French say ‘A vous monsieur Ahmad’-To you Mr Ahmad. A new era beckons and may history be kind to you and your team.