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Mauritanian Ahmed Yahya, 44, decided in November to run for the presidency of the African Football Confederation (CAF), whose election will be held on March 12 in Rabat. He will be opposed to the Ivorian Jacques Anouma, the South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe and the Senegalese Augustin Senghor. Accused of embezzlement, the former president, the Malagasy Ahmad Ahmad, has been suspended by FIFA.
Boss of a fishing company, Ahmed Yahya was 24 years old when he created FC Nouadhibou, the club from his hometown, current champion of Mauritania. Elected in 2011 at the head of the national federation, he launched several projects to develop football in his country, whose team then points to 190e place in FIFA ranking (101e today). Three years later, Mauritania qualified for the African Nations Championship (CHAN). And in 2019, the Mourabitounes won their first participation in the African Cup of Nations (CAN).
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Why are you applying for the head of CAF?
I have football at heart. I have been in the business for about twenty years. Today, I feel that I have enough experience, drive and commitment to improve football in Africa. Nothing was offered to me, I fought with my teams to bring Mauritanian football out of a deep lethargic state. And it is this desire to change things, this dynamic that I want to boost tomorrow at the head of CAF.
“The Asian Cup is three times more profitable than the CAN, which is not normal. “
My desire is to promote African football, to make competitions as prestigious as those organized by other confederations. They need to be more attractive, more profitable, more transparent and above all more reliable. The Asian Cup is three times more profitable than the CAN, which is not normal. I will not resign myself to accepting this.
What is CAF suffering from?
She needs vision, profound changes. CAF has the potential to do as well as other confederations, and even better. FIFA and audit firm PwC have drafted a comprehensive set of recommendations and I believe a large majority of them should be implemented.. Not because FIFA or PwC have said so, but because these are proposals that are in the interest of African football [PwC, qui a notamment révélé une comptabilité opaque au sein de la CAF et un manque de suivi des paiements aux fédérations, recommande une modification des statuts et préconise que les procédures soient en conformité avec les normes internationales de gouvernance financière].
How to find new ways?
I will go look for them, as I went to look for them for Mauritania, where, before my election, we had no stadium, no resources, no working conditions. But there was a vision, the will, the good governance and the ambition to move the lines. In ten years, the income of Mauritanian football has multiplied by 20. Today, we have infrastructures and a football which emerges thanks to marketing, sponsorship or digital, for example.
I want to straighten out CAF. This will require redoubled energy, but also a collective spirit, because nothing is built sustainably in individualism. My plan is to multiply revenues in order to redistribute more grants to member associations. The more these are structured, the more African football will develop.
Many leaders of world football have been accused of bad governance. The general public has the feeling that a form of opacity reigns in the higher authorities. How to cure it ?
There are also leaders, at the level of federations or confederations, who have never had problems and do not count their hours to serve football. What I propose is to separate the powers so that no more doubt is allowed. I propose to manage the administration independently in order to respect the highest standards in terms of governance.
“Transparency and high standards are the cardinal values that guide my action”
Ethics will be at the center of my governance. I will place all my trust in the men and women who will work for the benefit of football in Africa. Transparency and high standards are cardinal values that have guided my action for twenty years [Ahmed Yahya a été élu meilleur dirigeant africain par la CAF et par la FIFA]. It will continue. My hand will not shake when it comes to defending the interests of African football. Don’t count on me to organize a witch hunt though.
During a trip to Mauritania, Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, cited Mauritanian football as an example. Do you have his support?
Mauritanian football is a reflection of what it is possible to do with energy and passion. But we have to put things in context. Mauritanian football was cited as an example because much has been achieved, thanks in particular to the resources of FIFA and through its “Forward” program. In Mauritania, we were the first to request funding for a stadium. This venue was built in record time and when a FIFA delegation came to inaugurate it, it was pleasantly surprised. It is in relation to this that Gianni Infantino made this statement, it has nothing to do with possible support! FIFA is the umbrella body of world football and is equidistant from all the candidates. She doesn’t support me any more than anyone else. I am a committed, passionate man, but first and foremost I am a free man.
