Exclusive reports indicate that a sinister proposal fronted by Comoros FA President Said Athouman seeking to annul the age limit of prospective Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidential aspirants, has received the full backing of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as he steers the presidential bid of Egyptian Hany Aborida from the shadows.
Aborida (71) is said to be in the running for the seat he is technically unqualified for due to age restrictions imposed in the CAF statutes, barring anyone above 70 years from contesting.
As Comoros FA submitted the amendment to CAF, Secretary General Veron Mosengo-Omba is under the spotlight for doctoring endorsement letters from various federations, with Equatorial Guinea FA President Tomas Ndong raising the red-flag over his inclusion in the list of seconders to the proposal.
Veron’s letter to Member Associations had claimed that Equatorial Guinea supported the amendment prompting Equatorial Guinea FA to distance themselves from the move, fuelling suspicion that this practice has been on-going as external forces seek to influence the goings on at CAF.
Meanwhile CAF President Patrice Motsepe is under the spotlight for his proposal to extend an annual gratuity of $50,000 to federation heads, viewed by many as a bribe to purchase his seat in the next elections. Many argue that more money needs to be distributed to football activities and not to the pockets of individuals with the sole objective of swaying the outcome of an election.
He announced this new compensation package to be tabled at the next CAF Congress, which ironically doesn’t include a proposal for the president’s remuneration, in the speculative fiction that he will still be president come next year.
He may be seeking redemption from the FA Presidents whom he once termed as “poor” during a press conference but being the stingy person that he is, he wants to raid CAF coffers for inducements in-exchange for votes instead of forking the money from his personal kitty.
Malagasy ex-President Ahmad Ahmad launched this unscrupulous and nefarious strategy by extending $20,000 to FA Presidents and Patrice Motsepe has taken it a notch higher.
This script has been yanked from Gianni Infantino’s playbook where prior to every FIFA election, he tables fresh subventions targeting the low-hanging African FA’s, despite the glaring reality of dwindling resources at the grassroots and appalling standards of football in the African continent.
