Soccer Football - Africa Cup of Nations finals draw - Theatre National Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco - January 27, 2025 President of the Confederation of African Football Patrice Motsepe talks to media before the draw REUTERS/Abdelhak Balhaki/ File Photo
CAIRO (Reuters) -South African mining magnate Patrice Motsepe was re-elected unopposed as Confederation of African Football president at the organisation’s congress in Cairo on Wednesday while four-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto’o won a place on the executive committee.
The 63-year-old Motsepe, whose family trust owns one of the continent’s biggest clubs Mamelodi Sundowns, will serve a second four-year term after being first elected in 2021 when his candidature was also unopposed and heavily backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Eto'o, president of the Cameroon Football Federation, was elected unopposed as a representative for the central African region on the executive committee less than a week after winning an appeal to stand for the post.
He was excluded by CAF's governance committee in January but appealed his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who ruled in his favour.
Former World Cup footballer Eto'o had been twice banned last year.
In September, FIFA banned him from attending the national team's matches for six months for violating disciplinary regulations, after allegedly verbally abusing match officials at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.
Earlier in the year, CAF banned Eto'o after an inquiry into purported breaches of its ethical and integrity standards when he took up a role as ambassador for a betting company. The ban and a $200,000 fine were later lifted on appeal.
There were five others elected unopposed with Mustapha Ishola Raji of Liberia retaining his seat for another four years, while Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (female representative from the Democratic Republic of Congo), Wallace Karia (Tanzania), Kurt Simeon-Okraku (Ghana) and Sadi Walid (Algeria) are new to the committee.
Elvis Chetty of the Seychelles lost his place when Feizal Sidat (Mozambique) and Samir Sobha of Mauritius were voted in to represent southern Africa on the CAF executive committee.
There was also a vote to decide the six African representatives on the FIFA Council with Hany Abo Rida of Egypt, a member since 2009, and Fouzi Lekjaa of Morocco retaining their places.
Kanizat Ibrahim (Comoros), Hamidou Djibrilla Hima (Niger), Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania) and Souleymane Waberi (Djibouti) were elected for the first time.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
