Motsepe promises to restore the dignity of Africa Football

By Amaechi Agbo

New Confederation of Africa Football, CAF President, Patrice Mostepe has vowed to restore the dignity of Africa football during his four-year tenure.
Mostepe who became the first South African to occupy the seat and the seventh CAF supremo promised in his acceptance speech at the end of the elections in Rabat, Morocco, Friday said that he will chart a new path for Africa football.
The 43rd CAF General Assembly on 12 March, 2021 in Rabat, Morocco, elected Dr. Patrice Motsepe, as President of CAF.
Dr Motsepe, who becomes the seventh person to occupy the position of CAF President, begins his four-year term after being elected unopposed by the Member Associations of CAF, present in Rabat.
Going to the General Assembly, Africa adopted a unity stance which saw other three candidates, namely Augustin Senghor, Ahmed Yahya and Jacques Anouma withdraw from the race to be President.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who was in attendance in Rabat in his remarks in the General Assembly commended the African Member Associates for the unity they have displayed in the last few weeks.
Dr. Motsepe, 59, is an accomplished South African businessman and philanthropist and no stranger to football. For almost two decades, he has been the President of a South African club, Mamelodi Sundowns.
In his first address as CAF President, Dr Motsepe spoke about creating a new CAF that will take African football to new heights.
“I’m very excited. There is a great deal of urgency of getting things done. There is a going to be a lot of work and a lot of running. We have to make sure that African football is not just competitive but globally successful. Africa spends millions of dollars every year paying for tv rights of leagues outside Africa. There is a need to build our own products and we will succeed.
“The face of African football will never be the same again. 95% of our conversations will be about football and that is fine but there must be that 5% where we discuss the importance of the private sector partnerships. We need to restore the pride, the dignity and the respect of Africa,” said Dr Motsepe.
“There is a great deal of urgency and this is something we all know. One of the things I’m going to propose is that we need to meet regularly as the Member Associates Presidents. We need to close the distance between the members and CAF. I believe we have a clear understanding of what needs to be done. At times we find fancy words to describe what needs to be done but the most important thing is implementation.”
Dr Motsepe has committed to visiting each of the 54 Member Associates of CAF as part of a plan to understand the problems facing Member Associates and also to assist in creating better relations with the corporate world.