Nyamilandu wins CAF executive member position
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu has won a seat as Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive member during elections held today in Benin during the 45th CAF Ordinary General Assembly.
He beat incumbent executive member Mohamed Ally Samir Sobha from Mauritius and Mokhosi Mohapi of Lesotho in the three-horse race for the Council for Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) slot.
Sobha has been a CAF executive member since 2019 and has headed the Mauritius Football Federation from 2014. On the other hand, Mohapi has been in football administration since 2000, first as an administration and facilities manager for Lesotho Football Association before rising to his current post of general secretary.
Nyamilandu first served as CAF executive member by virtue of being a FIFA Council member between 2019 and 2021 but he lost the position. He has served at top level in FIFA, CAF and COSAFA.
Meanwhile, CAF president Patrice Motsepe told the General Assembly that he is excited and proud of the historic achievements at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 by Morocco as well as Senegal, Cameroon, Tunisia and Ghana.
“The qualification to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 by Morocco was the first such achievement by an African nation,” he said. “This reflects the significant improvement in the global competitiveness of African football and gives us confidence that our objective of ensuring that an African nation wins the FIFA World Cup is within reach.
“We’ve always believed that the success and growth of football
on the African continent is dependent on the success and growth of football in each member association country.
“Building partnerships with sponsors, investors and Governments is essential for the competitiveness and growth of football in each African country.”
Motsepe added that CAF is increasingly getting feedback from its sponsors, partners and other stakeholders that it is now seen and respected as a Confederation that implements and adheres to governance and auditing global best practices.
“The prize monies of all major CAF competitions have been increased significantly over the past two years and this has contributed to improving the quality and competitiveness of our competitions.”
He added that CAF has invested US$550,000 to introduce video assistant referee (VAR) and various training courses for VAR operators in each CAF Zonal Union and is also in the process of establishing VAR training centres.
“The CAF Statutes will be amended in two phases,” he went on. “The first phase of the amendments to the CAF statutes will reflect CAF’s commitment to good governance, ethics, accountability, international auditing, accounting & financial best practices and transparency.
“These amendments will benefit CAF in its discussions with potential sponsors and will be submitted at the 45th CAF Ordinary General Meeting.”
He also announced that the inaugural African Super League will kick-off on October 21 with the eight top ranked African football clubs from eight African countries.
“I am confident that the changes and reforms that we have introduced in CAF and African football will make football in our member association countries and on the African Continent globally competitive and self-supporting.
“We recognize the unique power of football to unite people from different racial, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds and are committed to making our contribution to improving the living conditions and uniting the people of Africa and the world.”
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