It was a coalition of “yes-men” who graced yesterdays Under 23 event, held at the Haramlek Palace in the port city of Alexandria in Egypt. Within one month, the men who have shown an image of independence and vision have been isolated, and we have only been left with soft Gianni Infantino lackeys, who lack the charisma and authority to steer African football to greater heights.
These are the men who want to usurp the mandate of the African people and sneak into the leadership of CAF, purely through association and anointment from their colonial master in Zurich.
Indeed, it was the glaring absence of CAF President Ahmad Ahmad from the draw leading to speculation as to the reason why he did not conduct the draw as has been the tradition. In his absence, it seems like Mauritania FA President Ahmad Yahya is trying to position himself as a possible CAF Presidential material.
Mauritania FA President Ahmad Yahya was at hand to take over the role and visibility as the head of CAF in Ahmad’s absence. He was seated nest to the Egyptian Sports Minister Dr. Ashraf Sobhi.
Yahya has in a span of one year, hosted FIFA President Gianni Infantino plus a plethora of African journalists, who are programmed to heap scripted praise about his unheard of vision in football, with all that he has to show being a few artificial pitches. He also hosted FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura this year in yet another PR trip filled with a lot of praises over imaginary footballing success.
Yesterday the jostling for the top seat took a new twist as it emerged that Fatma Samoura could be toying with Yahya for her own ends. While Gianni Infantino is “parking the bus” with Augustin Senghor, Fatma Samoura looks inclined towards Ahmad Yahya, with both unaware and indifferent to the actual wishes of the African people.
So where was disgraced CAF President Ahmad Ahmad last night?
Well today morning he released a photo posing with Cameroonian football legend Samuel Etoo who also doubles up as his advisor, at Choiseul Africa Forum in Nice, France.
Pictured: Disgraced CAF President Ahmad Ahmad with Cameroonian football legend Samuel Etoo. He is trying to salvage what’s left of his tattered reputation through hob-nobbing with retired footballers.
The photo may have a two-pronged purpose. First was to prove to the world that he is safe from any investigations by the French Police and that he is not subject of an investigation as has been widely claimed in sections of the media. However we know that justice knocks at night like an uncalled visitor, and whisks you away into oblivion, never to be heard again.
Thats the story of former IAAF President Lamine Diack and former CAF Exco member Patrice Ngaissona who were both arrested while minding their own business in France.
It is still unclear why Ahmad would give the AFCON U23 Draw a wide-berth, considering that technically, he still is the president. Last he was in Cairo was on 11th September where FIFA President Gianni Infantino commissioned the various reform committees set to overhaul CAF as envisioned in the Memorandum of Understanding between FIFA and CAF.
Furthermore Ahmad loves publicity and being on television and has never missed an event of such magnitude since his ascension to the CAF Presidency.
It has emerged that Ahmad did not have any formal role or duty at the Choiseul Institute beyond escorting Fatma who gave a brief presentation about women in football. Which begs the question; why were these two not at the AFCON U23 Draw in Egypt?
Samoura who is always quick to update her social media accounts as regards to her movements and meetings, suspiciously omitted this little piece of information, further fueling speculation on why the two were in France on the same day as the AFCON Under-23 Draw.
Fatma Samoura in a panel discussing women in sports at the Choiseul Institute in Nice, France.
What is clear however is that cracks are emerging and fault-lines forming, exposing the weak nature of allegiances in the CAF top-brass, where opportunists are eyeing the CAF Presidency through anointment of their white master in Zurich. And he is more than happy to play the divide and-rule card, which looks like the only trick up the sleeve of white imperialists since time immemorial.
Meanwhile the CAF Secretariat has been left in the hands of incompetent Anthony Baffoe, who has already overseen what looks like the worst start to the Champions League season in the history of CAF since inception.
Is incompetence a communicable disease? Pictured here, Anthony Baffoe and Fatma Samoura.
Through a litany of errors and miscommunication, this weekend saw Generations Foot from Senegal forfeit their match against Zamalek SC after a tussle over change of venue. Indeed, Baffoe had sanctioned the change which however was inconsistent with the rules.
It is evident CAF is in one big self-inflicted mess, all because FIFA President Gianni Infantino opted to meddle with the Ethics Chamber’s move to suspend Ahmad Ahmad, thereby denying Africans the right to self-determination and reintroducing colonialism by imposing collaborators and yes-men as his preferred choice.
What Gianni Infantino is doing is wrong, unnecessary and uncalled for. He must leave Africa to Africans.
From Nice, CAF President Ahmad Ahmad flew straight from Nice to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, together with Fatma Samoura who is purportedly preparing for next year’s FIFA Congress to be held in that city.
Fatma Samoura gave the explanation that she (or they) were in Addis Ababa to coordinate and finalise plans for nest year’s FIFA congress, yet she recently wrote a letter to all federations, handing over her roles to the Assistant Secretary General.
A letter from Fatma Samoura technically “resigning” her official function at FIFA in-order to handle her new role at CAF. Now she is claiming to be coordinating preparations for next year’s FIFA Congress with the CAF President. Do Presidents of other Confederations involve themselves with preparations of the FIFA Congress? Who is fooling who?
More baffling is the fact that the CAF President is not mandated to coordinate arrangements of the FIFA Congress, meaning that there is a wider plot at play. Speculation is rife that Ahmad and Fatma Samoura are exploring ways of relocating CAF from Egypt to Addis Ababa after Morocco started developing cold feet.
Pictured: Ahmad Yahya the President of Mauritania FA with CAF President Ahmad Ahmad and Fatma Samoura. Why would Ahmad skip the AFCON U23 Draw then appear in Ethiopia just a day later? Who is he hiding from in Egypt?
Why is Fatma Samoura so desperate to relocate CAF from Egypt? It may appear that the Egyptian Competitions Law is giving Ahmad sleepless nights after the ruling which saw CAF fined $60 Million for single-sourcing the commercial rights arrangement with Largadere Sports and Entertainment during the Hayatou era in 2015. The case challenging this agreement was filed by Egyptian marketing agency Presentation Sports.
In light of Fatma Samoura’s continued pursuit of commercial rights from African FA’s, they need to do it in a country with non-existent competition laws. And Ethiopia seems like a soft target.
