Patrice Motsepe Re-elected Unopposed as CAF President

South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe was re-elected unopposed as President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) at the organization’s congress in Cairo on Wednesday. Motsepe, 63, whose family trust owns South African club Mamelodi Sundowns, will serve a second four-year term. He was first elected in 2021, with his initial candidacy receiving significant backing from FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Former Barcelona and Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o, currently president of the Cameroon Football Federation, was elected unopposed as a representative for the central African region on the CAF executive committee. Eto’o’s election came less than a week after he successfully appealed an exclusion by CAF’s governance committee to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Eto’o has faced disciplinary issues in the past year. In September, FIFA banned him from attending national team matches for six months for allegedly verbally abusing match officials at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia. Earlier in the year, CAF banned Eto’o following an inquiry into alleged breaches of ethical and integrity standards related to his role as an ambassador for a betting company. The CAF ban and a $200,000 fine were later overturned on appeal.

The CAF Congress also saw several other unopposed elections to the executive committee:

• Mustapha Ishola Raji (Liberia) retained his seat.
• New members: Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (DR Congo, female representative), Wallace Karia (Tanzania), Kurt Simeon-Okraku (Ghana), and Sadi Walid (Algeria).

Elvis Chetty (Seychelles) lost his seat, with Feizal Sidat (Mozambique) and Samir Sobha (Mauritius) elected to represent southern Africa.

Elections were also held for the six African representatives on the FIFA Council:

• Hany Abo Rida (Egypt, a member since 2009) and Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco) were re-elected.
• New members: Kanizat Ibrahim (Comoros), Hamidou Djibrilla Hima (Niger), Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania), and Souleymane Waberi (Djibouti).

The elections solidify Motsepe’s leadership of CAF and bring new faces, including the controversial Eto’o, onto the executive committee. The composition of the FIFA Council representatives also sees significant changes.