A potential second term in office for Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Ahmad is looking considerably more likely after 46 of the continent’s 54 association presidents have called on him to run again.
The support comes despite Madagascar’s Ahmad, who took charge in 2017, having yet to formally announce his intention to stand in March’s elections. The deadline to apply is November 12, with no formal bid having yet been submitted by any candidate.
A statement signed by the heads of all Africa’s six regions suggests that the 60-year-old will have widespread backing should he opt to run again, even though he is the subject of an ongoing Fifa Ethics case. Ahmad has previously said he would seek guidance from the continent’s football fraternity before deciding to run, saying he does the role out of ‘collective motivation’ not ‘personal ambition’.
“Today, we, Presidents of the six Councils of African Football Associations, supported by 46 presidents of our 54 member associations, call on President Ahmad to run for a second term in order to continue with his achievement,” the statement read. “If he decides to do so, we will support him.”
A simple majority is required to win the Caf presidential election and only eight African nations did not put their name to the statement – Algeria, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Last month, Nigeria FA boss Amaju Pinnick refused to rule himself out of the race, saying there were ‘a lot of things fundamentally wrong in Caf right now’.
