Interim boss replaces Adamu in WAFU
The West African Football Union, (WAFU) now has a new president.
He is Ghana Football Association boss, Kwesi Nyantakyi who will occupy the
position previously occupied by Nigeria’s Amos Adamu.
Adamu, currently serving a three-year ban from football related
activities imposed on him by FIFA, after he was caught on video expressing his
readiness to accept a bribe from undercover reporters of England-based
newspaper, the Sunday Times, who pretended to represent a company seeking to
buy votes for the USA’s World Cup bid.
The Nigerian was then a vice-president of the world governing
body and became the first FIFA member ever to be banned for seeking bribes.
As a result he was not permitted to take part in the voting for
the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, won by Russia and Qatar respectively.
Adamu was also a member of the executive committee of Africa’s
football body, CAF as well as the president of WAFU but his positions in both
bodies were also affected by his global ban.
However, WAFU met over the weekend in Banjul, Gambia and
appointed an interim executive committee headed by the Ghanaian. The meeting
was called for the purpose of electing new executives to replace the Adamu-led
administration.
Bin Hammam in attendance
During the meeting, which had in attendance Qatar’s Mohammed Bin
Hammam who is hoping to get WAFU’s vote ahead of the FIFA presidential polls,
WAFU members also considered moving the regional body’s headquarters from Cote
d’Ivoire owing to the political turmoil in the country.
But the scheduled election had to be postponed after CAF
intervened, stating that it would meet next month to review the regional
football bodies in Africa.
“The general assembly accepted a recommendation from CAF to
postpone elections to the Executive Committee of WAFU until the former carries
out a proposed review of the organisation of all zonal unions in Africa,” a
WAFU communiqué read.
The communiqué also stated that WAFU will meet in Zurich,
Switzerland on May 31 to decide on the date to hold elections. But the interim
executive committee led by Nyantakyi will steer the affairs of the sub-regional
body until their meeting in Zurich.
There are seven members in the new interim executive committee. They are
Ivorian, Idris Diallo; Burkinabe Theodore Sawadogo and Mali’s Hamadou Cisse.
Senegal’s Augustin Senghore, Jose Lobato of Guinea Bissau and Gambian Seedy
Kinteh are also members of the interim executive committee.
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