Ahmad Ahmad of Madagascar has been elected as the new CAF president, unseating long-serving predecessor Issa Hayatou.
57-year-old Ahmad garnered 34 votes to Hayatou’s 20 votes at the CAF Congress in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
70-year-old Hayatou’s has been in power since 1988, and was seeking an eighth four-year term, but his 29-year reign as president of the Confederation of African Football came to and end today.
Prior to joining the race, the president-elect, Ahmad was the President of Malagasy Football Federation, and not much had been heard from him over the years because he was a silent member of CAF’s Executive Committee.
He is from a northwestern Malagasy village and is the first Madagascan to run for the presidency of a continental confederation.
Ahmad changed his stance when he revealed that he would be the one to take on Hayatou.
Hayatou had been concerned that Ahmad was pulling the strings from Southern Africa, especially when 24 African football association (FA) presidents met with FFfA president Gianni Infantino in Harare recently.
In Southern Africa, Ahmad gained the confidence of COSAFA last month, not surprisingly since its headed by Chiyangwa.
Ahmad’s progress would come as a relief to South Africa, as their association had long bemoaned the political power struggle SAFA faced against the French language nations in the North of Africa.
Hayaatou’s exit seems to be welcome news to many football fans in Africa who feel it was high time left the scene
