Nigeria’s candidate, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, narrowly lost his FIFA Council seat by a single vote at the 14th CAF Extraordinary Congress in Cairo, Egypt, held on Wednesday.
The former NFF President received 28 votes, one less than Mauritania’s Ahmed Yahya and Djibouti’s Souleman Hassan Waberi, who received 29 votes each.
Morocco’s Fouzi Lekjaa received 49 votes, while Egypt’s Hany Abou Rida and Niger Republic’s Djibrilla Hima Hamidou received 35 votes each.
Lekjaa, Rida, Hamidou, Yahya, and Waberi will join CAF President Patrice Motsepe, who ran for the presidency unopposed for a second term, as Africa’s representatives on the FIFA Council, along with Kanizat Ibrahim from the Comoros Islands, who won the women’s seat with 30 votes, compared to 13 for former FIFA Council and IOC Member Lydia Nsekera and seven for incumbent Isha Johansen.
In the CAF Executive Committee elections, Alfred Randriamanampisoa (Madagascar) withdrew before the vote, leaving Elvis Chetty (Seychelles), Sobha Mohamed Ally Samir (Mauritius), and Feizal Ismael Sidat (Mozambique) to compete for two COSAFA seats. Sobha Samir and Feizal Sidat were ultimately successful.
FIFA Council Seats: Patrice Motsepe (South Africa); Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco); Hany Abou Rida (Egypt); Djibrilla ‘Pele’ Hima Hamidou (Niger Republic); Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania), Souleman Hassan Waberi (Djibouti).
Female Seat: Kanizat Ibrahim (Comoros)
CAF Exco Seats: Samuel Eto’o (UNIFFAC); Wallace Karia (CECAFA); Sadhi Walid (UNAF); Mustapha Ishola Raji (WAFU A); Kurt Edwin-Simeon Okraku (WAFU B); Sobha Mohamed Ally Samir and Feizal Ismael Sidat (COSAFA)