All eyes will be on the Confederation of African Football congress in Addis Abba on Thursday where Madagascar Football Federation boss Ahmad Ahmad and incumbent CAF president Isaa Hayatou will engage in a fierce battle for the top job in African football.
Also, the Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick will look to unseat his Benin Republic counterpart Anjorin Moucharafou in the CAF executive seat poll.
The CAF presidential election attracted little attention when eighth-term seeking Hayatou, after his first election in 1988, strolled to victory against Angola’s Armando Machado in 2000 and Botswana’s Ismail Bhamjee in Botswana in 2004.
But this time round, the poll has generated a lot of publicity with the two contestants commanding well-oiled campaign machines.
The run up to the election has been marred by mudslinging and a lot of government interferences.
Hayatou,70, has been under much pressure from the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations to step down for Ahmad, 57, but the Cameroonian has blatantly refused to let go of his plum seat, opting for another four-year term.
However, Ahmad and his supporters insist the former athlete is past his sell-by date and should give way for new ideas after presiding over the 54-member association for 29 years.
“If people want change, there is no other choice. It is only me who dares to run against Hayatou,” AFP quoted Ahmad as saying on Wednesday.
“My programme is the reform of the administration of CAF to prevent politics interfering with the organisation of the confederation.”
Hayatou, who is banking on votes from the Francophone countries to win the election, believes he still has a lot to offer African football.
But ahmad said, “Basically, what we all want is a change in leadership, in the system, and in how we manage the Confederation.”
“We live in a time of transformation. The majority of federation presidents have changed. There are many more young people than before.”
Meanwhile, Pinnick faces a tough task to unseat Moucharafou, who is seeking a second term.
The NFF boss, who became a candidate for the poll under a cloud of controversy, looks stuck at a crossroads going into the contest as the Federal Government is not backing Ahmad, whose camp he belongs.
Sports minister Solomon Dalung made it clear on Tuesday that Nigeria is supporting Hayatou.
Dalung said, “When I invited them (NFF) I told them Nigeria’s position is to vote in favour of our national interest. The position of the Federal Government is that in view of the fact that Cameroon has been a major key player in the war against insurgency and the involvement of Cameroon in fighting for the stability of Nigeria, it will be out of the foreign policy context of Nigeria to abandon Cameroon and the acting president directed me – and I have communicated appropriately that if the only vote that will come to Hayatou will be from Nigeria, Nigeria should stand with Hayatou.”
