South African businessman and Mamelodi Sundowns President, Patrice Motsepe, has been confirmed as the new president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Motsepe who ran unopposed for the CAF presidency takes over from Ahmad Ahmad. This was confirmed during the CAF General Assembly that took place today in Rabat, Morocco.
He becomes the seventh (7th) person to occupy the position of CAF Presiden and begins his four-year term.
Motsepe was left as the sole candidate for the presidency following the withdrawal of three other candidates; Augustin Senghor from Senegal, Jacques Anouma of Ivory Coast, and Ahmed Yaya of Mauritania.
He also becomes the first person from an English-speaking country and only the second from Southern Africa to be elected president.
Motsepe is the ninth richest man in Africa with a personal wealth estimated at $2.9 billion (2.4 billion euros) by Forbes magazine.
Motsepe’s first assignment will be to reclaim the broadcasting rights of African football which are controlled by French companies. Currently, media rights to all African qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, are managed under a centralised sales model by FIFA.
Last November, the incumbent Ahmad Ahmad became the first CAF president to be banned by FIFA, with a five-year suspension for governance issues cut to two after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
FIFA became so concerned by governance issues at CAF that it sent FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura to Cairo for six months to assist in the running of the confederation.
