Patrice Motsepe’s bid to become the next Caf president gains momentum
The mining magnate prefers to do most of the deal-making behind the scenes
But SA Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan allayed those fears on Wednesday and revealed a lot was happening‚ even though most of the deal-making was not taking place in the public domain. The Safa president is an experienced hand on continental matters, and he is helping Motsepe with the lobbying on the muddy terrain of African football.
“Now we only have four candidates, and on the 12th of January Fifa and Caf will submit the final list of candidates who have passed the integrity test. He [Motsepe] said look‚ I want to know who I am up against and who has gone through the integrity test so that I know.
Jordaan said the travel restrictions necessitated by Covid-19 had also hampered free movement on the continent and in other parts of the globe.
“[On Thursday] he is flying to Qatar because there is the Asian Champions League final there‚ and then he is going to at least three other African countries. He has been doing the rounds.
“Of the 14 presidents that attended the 50th anniversary celebrations‚ ten of them came from the Cosafa region and others made apologies.
“We also had presidents from Guinea Bissau‚ Benin‚ Equatorial Guinea‚ Nigeria and Burundi here. He is going to African countries directly and I think he is the only candidate that is actually going to each of the 52 African countries because he has the ability to go there and he is doing that.”