His term expires in 2029…
The name of Samuel Eto’o, President of the Cameroonian Football Association, has returned to the circle of potential candidates to succeed Patrice Motsepe as president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), according to a report published by the British newspaper “The Guardian”, which dealt with the pressures facing the leadership of “CAF” after reviewing the system for holding the African Cup of Nations from every two years to every four years.
The list of names circulating, in addition to Eto’o, included Ahmed Yahya (President of the Mauritanian Federation), Yassine Idriss Diallo (President of the Ivorian Federation), and Suleiman Wabere (President of the Djibouti Federation and member of the FIFA Council). Noting that none of the four names has officially announced his candidacy for the presidency of the Federation yet.
Eto’o holds the presidency of the Cameroonian Federation and a member of the CAF Executive Committee, after a busy career in European stadiums with Barcelona and Inter Milan, and historical achievements with his country’s national team. The circulation of his name coincides with talk about the possibility of an early change in the leadership of the Continental Confederation, even though Motsepe’s current term extends until 2029, following his announcement of his not intending to run for a third term.
According to The Guardian, a number of potential candidates are seeking the support of FIFA President Gianni Infantino if pressure mounts for Motsepe to leave office before the end of his term, while no official announcement has been made by Infantino indicating support for a specific candidate.
These developments come against the backdrop of Motsepe’s statements in Cape Verde on October 9, in which he revealed that CAF is considering returning to organizing the African Cup of Nations every two years, after the previous trend of holding it every four years. Reuters indicated that the review of the system came as part of strategic discussions about the future of the tournament, while the Guardian quoted its sources as saying that the announcement raised questions among officials in the national federations regarding the decision-making mechanism and the absence of prior consultations.
It is expected that the CAF Executive Committee meeting scheduled for the city of Abidjan during next November will discuss the proposal to return to the previous tournament system. Until official decisions are issued, the names of the succession remain mere speculation and press readings and not a list of nominations approved by the African Union.
