MINING magnate Patrice Motsepe, has been re-elected Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the next four years, unopposed.
A lawyer by profession, Motsepe was voted at 14th CAF extraordinary meeting in Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday.
Wasting no time, during his address, Motsepe said due to a lack of proper stadiums, many African countries are unable to host matches in their own nations, depriving fans of the opportunity to watch their national teams play live.
“In 2021, there were 36 countries that were not playing football in their countries. The number has come down to 12, but — for us — this is still a big number,” Motsepe said.
“At CAF and Fifa, it is our job to continue supporting the development of sports infrastructure.”
During his four-year term, he will engage with all CAF member countries do have stadiums suitable for hosting international matches, and to achieve this, Motsepe will need the support and cooperation of governments in these nations.
It is a mammoth undertaking for the President, who has overseen significant improvements in continental football during his first four-year term, the most noticeable of which was the increase in prize money across all CAF competitions — whether at club or national team level, for both men’s and women’s football, as well as youth tournaments.
The introduction of a schools competition is another initiative for which Motsepe has been widely praised, and securing more sponsorships.
Meanwhile, former Cameroon football star Samuel Eto’o has been included in the executive committee.
Image (CAF President Patrice Motsepe, has been re-elected unopposed).
