CAF Presidency : the vision of barrister Augustin Senghor for African Football
On 12 March 2021 in Rabat (Morocco), elections will be held for the members of CAF Executive Committee, its representatives in the FIFA Council and the President of the continental body for the development of African Football.
These renewal elections come at a crucial moment in the existence of the Confederation of African Football which is going through particularly hard times in its evolution.
Perhaps the most difficult since its inception in 1957 ? Some might be tempted to respond positively or negatively depending on how they perceive it. Still, at the start of the decade 2020, the state of affairs shows a two-sided picture:
- A positive side with initiatives and breakthrough decisions that have brought a real and appreciable qualitative change in the march of African football.
- On the other hand, there are structural problems of governance and development which are now reflected in an institutional situation where the two pillars of the management of CAF (the President and the Secretary General) have had to leave their functions (voluntarily or involuntarily) during or at the end of their term so that when it comes time to go to its upcoming elections, CAF finds itself led by interim at both the administrative and executive levels.
These structural governance problems find their echo at the internal level in African national associations, of which a growing number, and not the least, are experiencing the throes of normalisation in an interminable and repetitive form (or both at the same time), the exception tending to become the norm.
This is evidence, if evidence is needed, of the structural and institutional crisis situation (dare we say it) in which the continental body finds itself even if its decision-making bodies, the General Assembly and the Executive Committee remain well in place and especially that actions had been launched at the initiative of the outgoing President through the programme "Transform CAF" to change the Confederation in two years (2020-2021).
Unfortunately, this project will not come to an end. In view of this unprecedented situation full of uncertainties for the future of African football, I decided on November 12, 2020 to officially submit my candidacy for the position of President of CAF, based on my great experience in the service of football, especially my 18 years as club President, of my 11 years of experience as President of the Senegalese Football Federation, 8 years as President of the UFOA A Zone, member of numerous committees within FIFA and CAF since 2009 and finally member of the Executive Committee and the Emergency Committee of CAF for the last 2 years.
This background enlightens largely and objectively on my in-depth knowledge of the continental and world football environment and of the CAF institution with its strengths and weaknesses. On the basis of the values, principles and standards of competence, ethics, rigour in management but also leadership and open-mindedness that have guided me throughout my career as a sports leader which started at the age of 26, I am firmly convinced that I am the one through whom the recovery of CAF will take place in the medium term by 2025.
To come to this conclusion, it was necessary to take an uncompromising look at the current situation of the CAF institution, at the end of which a certain number of observations were made.
Please find attached the complete edition of the manifesto
