28 October – Patrice Motsepe says he will run for a second term as president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The organization confirmed his candidacy, with general elections to be held in 2025.

On the sidelines of the CAF General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Motsepe once again dodged questions about his future as African football supremo, but in a brief statement on Friday, CAF confirmed that the South African will seek re-election in March. .

Motsepe had waited until he was sure no one would come up against him, according to one of the people Insideworldfootball spoke to. If he is challenged, he will not run for re-election.

“Following requests from many CAF member association presidents, zonal union presidents and key stakeholders, Motsepe has finally agreed to stand as a candidate in the CAF presidential elections scheduled for March 2025,” read a statement from CAF indicating that he was the executive’s preferred candidate. and seem to represent the membership and their desire to carry it forward – African MAs in the current environment appear to have lost their voice and ability to think for themselves.

In 2021, mining magnate Motsepe replaced Ahmad Ahmad, who was banned for corruption, as CAF president with the support of FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The other candidates – Senegal’s Augustin Senghor, Mauritania’s Ahmed Yahya and Ivory Coast’s Jacques Anouma – withdrew from the race in exchange for executive or advisory roles.

The success of Motsepe’s first term in office is still unknown.

CAF’s flagship competition, the Africa Cup of Nations, continues to have problems and at the 2022 finals in Cameroon at least eight people died in the crowd at Olembe Stadium, but earlier this year the tournament in Ivory Coast was hailed as an unprecedented success. better infrastructure, more equal competition and greater commercial revenues.

At a public hearing last week, Motsepe said the tournament generated a profit of $72 million, far less than the $4.5 million profit from the previous final round.

When Motsepe arrived at CAF, the organization was on the verge of bankruptcy following the cancellation of a $1 billion contract with Lagardère. Last week, the football boss confirmed that CAF paid a $50 million settlement to the marketing company in two tranches – effectively turning a loss of £100 million (CAF was unable to immediately match that figure in commercial sponsorship) into a loss of $150 million.

But the South African struck an optimistic note regarding the organisation’s finances. CAF doubled development funding for member associations from $10.8 million to $21.6 million. The 54 members receive $400,000 annually, but the bulk – $50,000 – is reserved for the FA president after members voted for pay increases for top executives.

This is a timely pay increase, ahead of a presidential election like no other.

For the 2024-2025 financial year, CAF projects revenue of $149 million, down from $166 million in 2023-24, and expenses of $138 million, resulting in net profit of about $11 million.

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