The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has denied president Isha Johansen has given an endorsement to (CAF) president Issa Hayatou’s challenger Ahmad Ahmad for the upcoming continental elections this month.
Hayatou in photo faces perhaps the biggest challenge in three-decade reign as CAF president. The next Confederation of African Football president will be limited to three terms in office.
With barely 15 days to go for the decider, Madagascar’s football boss, Ahmad Ahmad, will be challenging the longest-serving Hayatou for the CAF presidency at the 39th Ordinary General Assembly, at which the election will take place on March 16 in Ethiopia
On Tuesday, February 28, 2017, Nigerian’s Tony Ubani of the Vanguard newspaper reported that Sierra Leone have joined the likes of Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA), Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and the Gambia to openly support the 57-year-old man.
“As you know the whole of COSAFA, which has 15 members are for Ahmad. Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, the Gambia, Sierra Leone are openly supporting the man from Antananarivo. Also, the closeness of FIFA President, Gianni Infantino and Secretary General, Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura to the “New Generation” who wants to topple the “Old” order would be another blow to the Hayatou camp,” the Nigeria Vanguard newspaper reported.
However, the Sierra Leone Football Association Director of Competition who also doubles as the acting on communication officer, Sorie Ibrahim Sesay has dismissed the said report as baseless and misleading adding that the SLFA, Madam Isha Johansen is yet to make an official statement on the said elections.
“The president of the FA has not made any statement on that, the report is completely misleading, we all know Amaju Pinnick (Nigeria Football Federation) is backing Ahmad but that does not imply the SLFA boss is backing him, she has not made any statement on that as she is keeping her cards close to her chest,” Sesay said.
A total of 54 countries in CAF will cast their vote in the March elections and any candidates who poll 28 votes automatically becomes the winner of the election and Ahmad Ahmad is said to have secured 21 member countries in his fold with more others weighing their options.
North Africans have not indicated where their votes would go but feelers show that Ahmad would divide their votes because of a recent face-off with the 71-year-old Hayatou who became President of CAF in Casablanca, Morocco in 1988.
Ahmad is a member of the CAF Executive Committee and he is currently in his third term in office as head of Madagascar’s FA.
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