‘FIFA Council Elections a victory for Arab solidarity’

Stakeholders in Nigerian football have described the recent election to decide Africa’s representatives in the FIFA Council held in Cairo, Egypt as a victory for Arab solidarity as candidates from Arab countries took five seats out of the seven allotted to Africa. This left only CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, and Niger Republic’s Djibrilla Hima Hamidou as the only Africans from outside the Arab bloc in the new FIFA Council.

At the elections decided by delegates from CAF’s member associations, former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick, who was seeking re-election into the Council, lost narrowly as he polled 28 votes to finish in the sixth position, just one vote behind Souleiman Hassan Waberi of Djibouti, who garnered 29 votes to pick the final spot.

Morocco’s Fouzi Lekjaa led the polling with 49 votes, while Hani Abou Rida (Egypt) and Hamidou (Niger Republic) each collected 35 votes. Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania) also claimed a position with 29 votes. In the women’s category, Kanizat Ibrahim (Comoros Islands) emerged triumphant with 30 votes, defeating Lydia Nsekera of Burundi (13 votes) and Sierra Leone’s Isha Johansen (7 votes).

Shortly after the elections, the Union of Arab Football Federations (UAFA) congratulated its victorious members for their success at the polls, saying: “Arab Football Federation celebrates Arab Africa after securing seats to represent Africa on board.”

UAFA, which is saddled with the responsibility of articulating Arab interest in world football, said it hoped that the victory would add more fillip to the development of football in the region.

Reacting to the polls, which, he said, amounts to leaving the articulation of Africa’s interest in FIFA in in the hands of only one region