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Ahmed Yahya – ‘I want to make CAF an organisation all African football fans can be proud of’

28 February 2021, 7:08 PM |

| @SABCNews

Ahmed Yahya says he wants to make CAF an organisation that all African football fans can be proud of.

Candidate for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Presidency, Ahmed Yahya, hails from Mauritania and is a businessman. At 44, Yahya is the youngest candidate in the bid for Africa’s big seat in football.

The head of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (FFRIM), a post he has held since 2011.

Achievements in football

In 1999, Yahya founded football club FC Nouadhibou and served as President of the club until 2004. The club has won two cups and six national titles,
In 2011, he was elected as the President of FFRIM,
He has been a member of CAF’s Executive Committee since 2017. Yahya also sits on the Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions.
At the CAF awards in 2017, Yahya was named the continent’s best football administrator,
In 2018 and under his FFRIM leadership, Maauritania qualified for the first time in history for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) under coach Corentin Martins,
Mauritania was crowned CAF’s Team of the Year for 2018,
In 2019, Mauritania selected a women’s team to represent the country for the first time,
In 2019, FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, praised Yahya for role in developing both football and its infrastructure in Mauritania,
In 2020, in a landslide victory, Yahya was re-elected as the President of FFRIM

CAF Presidency

In November 2020, Yahya announced his contest for the CAF Presidency. In a tweet, Yahya said that he was committed to promoting African football.

“Committed to promote African football. And after much thought and discussion, I have decided to submit my candidacy for the Presidency of the Confederation of African Football.”

Yahya said that he wanted to make CAF an organisation that all African football fans can be proud of.

However, on Monday word got out that FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, had brokered out an agreement with Yahya and Senegalese CAF Presidency candidate Augustin Senghor, which will see the two of them step down from the presidential race in support of South African candidate, Dr Patrice Motsepe.

Senghor and Yahya were offered the positions of first and second Vice-Presidents of CAF.