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ANOTHER TUNISIAN SET TO CHALLENGE AHMAD AS CAF PRESIDENT

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Wadie Jary the current head of Tunisia Football Federation.

Two candidates from Tunisia are now known to be jostling to head the Confederation of African Football, CAF when the next election holds next year March.

Apart from the current president, Ahmad of Madagascar, two Tunisians have joined the race. Last week, the FIFA Council member, Tarek Bouchamaoui of Tunisia has declared his intention.

FIFA Council member, Tarek Bouchamaoui of Tunisia

He is now joined in the race by his compatriot, Wadie Jary the current head of Tunisia Football Federation.

His entry into the race may have dealt a blow on the earlier bid of Bouchamaoui as he appears to have the support of the Tunisian Federation, TFF.

According to insidethegame publication, TFF member, Hisham Benamran told the Tunisian radio station Express FM the national governing body would support Wadie Jary.

Candidates need to be nominated by at least three CAF nations to be eligible to stand for President, with the deadline for submissions falling on November 12.

Under CAF’s statutes, members of the African body can only nominate one candidate.

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The CAF Presidential election is due to take place on March 12 in Rabat.

Madagascar’s incumbent President Ahmad, who goes by a single name, claimed earlier this year that he had not decided whether to run for a second term.

His first four-year stint at the helm of the CAF has been littered with controversy, including allegations of corruption and sexual misconduct.

The issues at the CAF prompted FIFA to effectively take over the running of the continental body last July, with Fatma Samoura installed as general delegate for Africa.

Samoura held the role for six months but next to no information on what FIFA uncovered has been released.

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An independent audit of CAF accounts carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier this year revealed its records were “unreliable and not trustworthy”, although the CAF claimed the report contained “unfounded allegations”.

Jary, a former player, has been President of the TFF since 2012.

His stewardship of the TFF included Tunisia qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where they finished third in a group containing England, Belgium and Panama.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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