South African mining magnate Patrice Motsepe was re-elected unopposed as president of the Confederation of African Football at the organization’s congress in Cairo on Wednesday, with African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto’o winning a place on the executive committee.
Motsepe, 63, who belongs to the family that owns Mamelodi Sundowns, one of the continent’s biggest clubs, will serve a second four-year term after being first elected in 2021, his candidacy also unopposed and strongly supported by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Eto’o, the president of the Cameroon Football Federation, was elected unopposed as the Central African region’s representative on the executive committee less than a week after winning an appeal to run for the position.
He was disqualified by the CAF governing body in January, but his case was appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled in his favor.
A former World Cup winner, Eto’o had been banned twice last year.
In September, FIFA banned him from national team matches for six months for breaching disciplinary regulations after he was accused of verbally abusing match officials at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.
Earlier this year, CAF banned Eto’o following an investigation into allegations that he breached the ethics and integrity standards of a betting company while acting as an ambassador. The ban and $200,000 fine were later lifted on appeal.
Five others were elected unopposed, with Liberia’s Mustapha Ishola Raji retaining his seat for another four years, and Bestine Kasadi Ditabala (Women’s Representative from the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Wallace Karia (Tanzania), Kurt Simeon-Okraku (Ghana) and Saadi Walid (Algeria) all new to the committee.
