No stopping Motsepe's CAF ambitions

AND then there was one!

That is the story of the upcoming Caf elections in Morocco on Friday.

There were four candidates for the Caf presidency but Fifa, the international governing body of football, has decided in its wisdom to stage-manage the elections.

Fifa resolved that the status quo of African football will not remain. CAF, with its hand-picked president in tow, would shake off the demons of the past.

The candidates were Augustin Senghor (Senegal), Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast), Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania) and Patrice Motsepe (South Africa).

The last elected Caf president, Ahmad Ahmad, a Malagasy politician and football administrator, is now persona non grata.

The disgraced Caf president was banned by Fifa last November for a string of ethical violations.

The contemptible figure made a last-ditch attempt to enter the presidential race, but his fate has yet to be decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

The outcome will not have bearing on the elections.

On Saturday, Senghor issued a a statement saying he would withdraw from the race.

The statement in part reads: “We (Senghor and Anouma) have decided to accept the proposal submitted to us by Fifa, Morocco and Egypt in the superior interest of the unity of African football.

“The withdrawal of my candidacy for the presidency of Caf for the benefit of another candidate will not be shared by all, for various reasons. I think it is the right decision.

Achieving the objective of a strong, united, more efficient and more attractive Caf is worth all the sacrifices, even that of renouncing legitimate personal ambitions.”

The statement was issued in the North West African country Mauritania where the Under-20 African Cup of Nations tournament ended on Saturday.

Photographs of Motsepe and the former candidates, as well as Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who as the deal broker was at the heart of all the backroom bargaining and negotiations, were displayed on social media platforms.

This clears the way for Motsepe to be elected as the new CAF president.

He will become the English-speaking Caf president. first