South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe is set to be elected the next Confederation of African Football (CAF) president after his remaining challenger Jacques Anouma withdrew from the race.
With incumbent Ahmad Ahmad already locked out, the Friday March 12 elections will all but be a formality. Motsepe will become the first CAF President from non French speaking country.
Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa is also seeking a FIFA Council seat in the elections set to be conducted in Rabat, Morocco.
Motsepe is a popular businessman who deals in mining and also the owner of Mamelodi Sundowns, a football club that has dominated both in the South African league and continental front in the past five years.
CAF is seeking for change at the top leadership and recent corruption cases labeled on outgoing chairman Ahmad have painted a bad picture on the federation. Ahmad had his five year ban from all football activities reduced to two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday but will not be allowed to contest for the top seat.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino is believed to have brokered a deal to see Motsepe voted in. Sourced claim that a deal was struck to have other candidates running for the top seat step down and support the South African billionaire.
Other aspirants who expressed interest in the top seat were Ahmad Yahya from Mauritania, Austin Senghor from Senegal and Jacques Anouma from Cote d'Ivoire.
Last week, Motsepe launched his ten-point Action plan manifesto, called Building African Football to be Best in the World.
He said investing in developing and growing football in each African Country and building partnerships and sponsorships with the private sector as well as other potential partners will be his biggest agenda.