South African Billionaire Patrice Motsepe Appointed As New CAF President

The President of the Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick was earlier today, Friday, March 12, elected into the FIFA Council at the Confederation of African Football’s 43rd General Assembly in Rabat, Morocco, while South African mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe was elected as president.

Amaju Pinnick won his new seat on the FIFA Council following a spate of withdrawals from the race by contestants prior to the election. Gambian Lamine Bajo, Nicholas Mwendwa of Kenya, Wallace Karia (Tanzania) and Andrew Kamanga (Zambia) all withdrew from the race leaving only Pinnick and incumbent Walter Nyamilandu in the race, which was expected to produce two winners.
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Amaju will become the fifth Vice-President of CAF. Alongside 4 other CAF vice presidents are Augustin Senghor (first Vice- President), Ahmed Yahya (second Vice- President), Souleiman Waberi (third Vice- President) and Fouzi Lekjaa (fourth Vice- President).

Also during the 43rd General Assembly Africa’s ninth richest man, Patrice Motsepe was appointed the new President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Motsepe becomes the first man from an Anglophone country to be named into the position since the creation of the body.

Motsepe will be replacing Ahmad Ahmad, who was the immediate past president and was banned from all football-related activities for the next two years for financial misconduct by FIFA.

Patrice Motsepe is set to be CAF president for the next 4-years until the next elective congress set to be held in 2025.

Also, the billionaire mining magnate will step down as president of Mamelodi Sundowns for the duration of his CAF presidency.

Motsepe has since indicated that his oldest son Tlhopie will become the club’s president in his absence.

Photo Credit: Getty