The Nigerian football boss forsake his ambition to drum up support for the South African administrator
President of the Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick has tipped South Africa's Patrick Motsepe to win next month's CAF presidency elections by a landslide.
Pinnick has never hidden his backing for Motsepe in the Mamelodi Sundowns owner’s candidacy to take over from Ahmad Ahmad has the top man of the Confederation of African Football.
The Nigerian football boss himself was earlier rumoured to be interested in vying for the CAF presidency before he opted to contest for a place in the FIFA Council.
Motsepe goes up against Jacques Anouma of Ivory Coast‚ Augustin Senghor of Senegal, and Mauritanian Ahmed Yahya‚ in the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf) presidential election on March 12.
And with Southern Africa's Cosafa promising to vote en-block for Motsepe and Nigeria likely leading West Africa in supporting the South African football chief, Pinnick expects Motsepe to win a majority of the 54 Caf elective congress votes.
“The truth is you can see me in South Africa very regularly. I’m super excited because for the first time in football in the continent‚ Africa is about to get it right‚” Pinnick said, as per Sowetan Live.
“ … And that’s the excitement of everybody in Nigeria‚ and it’s the same excitement of everybody on the West African coast.
“So when you say you [Cosafa] are giving 14 votes – and I said this during Ahmad’s campaign where he got 35 votes – that by God’s grace we are looking at 40 votes [for Motsepe].
“I travel every day campaigning for my president [Motsepe]‚, and they say‚ ‘But you are not campaigning for yourself’. I say‚ ‘Let him get in there’.
“So I can assure you‚ between 35‚ 38 and 40 [votes].”
Pinnick played an influential role in Madagascan Ahmad Ahmad unseating incumbent Issa Hayatou in March 2017, ending the Cameroonian's 29-year reign as CAF President.
