Zim tycoon at the helm as Jordaan pulls out of Cosafa race

ZIMBABWE property mogul Phillip Chiyangwa was elected unopposed as the new Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) president in Sun City, North West, yesterday after his rival for the top job, South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan, withdrew from the race.

Jordaan was widely believed to be a strong favourite to succeed the Seychelles’ Suketu Patel — who has been president for a decade — but the Safa president informed Cosafa yesterday morning that he had decided to walk away from the race.

Jordaan told Sunday Times he decided against running and would support Cosafa’s new leadership.

Cosafa secretary-general Sue Destombes said Jordaan and Chiyangwa were the only candidates for the position of president.

“It (withdrawing) was a decision taken by Dr Jordaan and his executive. They do not need to give us an explanation and it was a decision taken by them,” she said. “They sent through a formal letter of withdrawal early on Saturday morning.”

The flamboyant Chiyangwa, who used to be a boxing promoter in Zimbabwe before he turned his attention to football, has been the Zimbabwe Football Association’s president for a year.

He told Sunday Times he intends to

Mamelodi Sundowns have been doing very well for our region

challenge the status quo and would explore ways to reduce the huge financial gap between European leagues and those in Africa.

“We are looking at a number of [sponsorship] options we want to unlock so things work for us,” he said.

“Cosafa must be known in the same way Fifa is known because it is a representative body at Fifa.”

The new Cosafa boss said he watched Mamelodi Sundowns’ progress in the African Champions League this year and was happy when the Brazilians beat Egyptians Zamalek 3-1 on aggregate over two legs to become continental champions in October.

Coach Pitso Mosimane’s charges then became the first South African team to play in the Club World Cup in Japan and Chiyangwa said he wanted to see teams from the Cosafa region participating in the Fifa tournament every year.

“Mamelodi Sundowns have been doing very well for our region. We want to see more teams from this African region playing against European, Asian and South American teams.”

Though Sundowns did not win a game in Japan — they were beaten 20 by Japan side Kashima Antlers in the quarterfinals and also suffered a 4-1 defeat to South Korea club Jeonbuk Hyundai in the play-off for fifth place — the experience they gained from playing at that high level and against some of the best teams in the world would have been priceless for Mosimane’s charges.

Chiyangwa said he hoped that Southern African clubs would take lessons from Sundowns’ participation in the tournament and then make a serious bid for the title in future. — TMG Digital DANNY JORDAAN: I’ll support Cosafa’s new leadership