Caf removes age limits of officials

The Confederation of African Football voted on Tuesday to remove an age limit on its officials, paving the way for Issa Hayatou to stay on as president.

All 54 countries at the organisation’s congress in Cairo agreed to change the statutes which previously stopped officials serving past the age of 70.

It was proposed CAF should bring its rules in line with those of world football governing body FIFA.

Hayatou, 68, will now be able to stand for another term in office in 2017.

His current mandate ends in two years and he is seeking four more years until at least 2021, when he turns 75.

The rule change follows success in recent years in adapting the statutes to limit potential opponents to Hayatou’s rule.

CAF previously brought in a rule that candidates for its presidency can only come from the ranks of its own executive committee, a tight-knit club closely controlled by Hayatou. FIFA does not have the same restriction.

Cameroon-born Hayatou, a former athletics official, is the longest serving senior member in FIFA structures, where he acts as vice-president, and has had few serious challengers for power in Africa since first winning election in 1988.

Meanwhile, Ivory Coast’s Jacques Anouma has he lost his seat on the exalted FIFA Executive Committee.

The former president of Ivorian football federation got only 20 votes at the election conducted as part of the 37th CAF Ordinary General Assembly on Tuesday in Egypt. He has long lost his seat on the CAF Executive Committee.

Tarek Bouchamaoui from Tunisia took 54 votes, with the president of DR Congo football federation, Constant Omari Selemani, second with 34 votes. Both will sit on the FIFA panel for the next four years.

Six members of the CAF Executive Committee were also re-elected, for the 2015-2019 period. Bouchamaoui was re-elected unopposed for the North Zone, while Guinean Almamy Kabele Camara retained his seat in West A Zone and Ghanaian Kwesi Nyantakyi was also unopposed for Zone West B, into which Nigeria falls.

Selemani retained his seat in the Central Zone, and former Tanzania captain Leodegar Tenga was also unopposed (Hassan Waberi of Djibouti withdrew) in Central-East, as former Zambia captain Kalusha Bwalya benefitted similar fortune in Southern zone.

AFCON 2017, Eagles know fate today

The Super Eagles will today know their group opponents for the qualification tournament of the 2017 CAF Africa Cup of Nations. The draw will be held in Cairo immediately after the announcement of the host nation for the tournament.
The qualifiers for the 31st edition of the AFCON will begin this midyear in the FIFA international window from June 8-16.

Super Eagles celebrate after winning the 2013 Afcon final
For the first time the host country will participate in the qualifying stages for the AFCON. However, the matches concerned will not count for any points in their group, and will instead be classified as friendlies.
Fifty two teams will be divided into 13 groups of four teams each. A four-tiered seeding system will see one team from each tier allocated per group.
The top team in each group will qualify for the tournament finals, as well as the best two runners-up – excluding the group involving the host country, from which only one team will qualify.
The Eagles failed to qualify for the 2015 edition which held in Equatorial Guinea and was won by Ivory Coast.

President Jonathan warns against violence

Read the State House press statement below...

As the nation prepares for Saturday’s governorship and State Assembly elections, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan calls on all Nigerians to remain peaceful, united and law-abiding. The President condemns the very unseemly attempt by some politicians, groups and individuals to intimidate others, heat up the polity and cause public disorder and disaffection in the aftermath of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

President Jonathan is especially concerned about the negative triumphalism that has been put on display by certain elements since March 31 which flies in the face of his personal commitment to post-election peace, unity and national stability.

The President calls on all those, who through their actions and utterances, have been promoting divisiveness, sectionalism and ethnic hatred in the country following the outcome of the March 28 elections to cease and desist from actions that detract from the true spirit and culture of democracy envisioned by patriotic men and women of goodwill in Nigeria.

President Jonathan also condemns the undue harassment of public officials serving under his administration and urges all affected persons to continue to perform their lawful duties without fear. The President cautions that this should be a time for the healing of political wounds in the overriding interest of national unity, stability and progress, not a time for ethnic jingoism and the settling of scores. The Federal Government will not condone any attempt to instigate a crisis in any part of the country in furtherance of personal political ambitions.

President Jonathan assures all Nigerians that his administration remains fully committed to national progress and the entrenchment of the best values of democracy for the good of all Nigerians. He urges Nigerians to go out en-masse once again on April 11 to vote for candidates of their choice in the Governorship and State Assembly elections with the confidence that his administration will do all within its powers to ensure that they do so in peace, without threats, intimidation or violence from any quarters.

Reuben Abati
Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity)
April 7, 2015