At a meeting of COSAFA Executive Committee on 27 January 2021, it was unanimously resolved that Dr Patrice Motsepe is the only candidate endorsed by the 14-member regional body to run for the CAF Presidency in March this year.
COSAFA President, Phillip Chiyangwa has said that the region will back the South African billionaire, and owner of Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club.
The COSAFA Executive reiterated a decision taken in 2017 that the Zone should always support one of its own, in this case Dr Motsepe, adding that Member Associates will back Dr Motsepe for the CAF top job.
In 2017, COSAFA was the first bloc to endorse eventual winner Ahmad Ahmad from Madagascar.
“We are confident that once we take a unanimous decision to back one of our own, other members who want real change in CAF will join the winning party.
“In Dr Motsepe we have a candidate who will usher in a new era for African football,” said Chiyangwa.
Motsepe will battle it out against three other candidates that include Mauritania FA president Ahmed Yahya, Ivory Coast’s Jacques Anouma and Senegal FA president Augustin Senghor at the elective congress set for March 12 in Rabat, Morocco.
Former president Ahmad Ahmad of Madagascar, who had also submitted candidature has been disqualified due to his five-year FIFA ban after being found guilty for corruption.
-Zwnews
