Ivory Coast’s Jacques Anouma To Run For CAF Presidency

Former FIFA executive committee member Jacques Anouma announced Sunday that he will run for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidency.

The 68-year-old is the first person to publicly announce his intention to run against CAF president Ahmad Ahmad for the election which is expected to be held next March.

Candidates must be nominated by at least one of the 54 CAF member associations and pass integrity checks to get to the ballot. Anouma has he already been endorsed by Ivory Coast’s Football Federation (FIF).

This will be Anouma’s second attempt to run for the top seat after his 2013 election bid which was blocked by then CAF president Issa Hayatou.

“I’ve decided to launch my candidacy for the presidency of CAF for the second time,” he said.

“Let me be clear, I want to finish what we started.

“We have come too far to walk away now. I have thought long and hard on this, I believe in the road we started, I believe in the moments I shared with people all over Africa, who told me their hopes and dreams.”

A longtime financial adviser to former Ivorian state president Laurent Gbagbo’s family, Anouma led his national football federation for nine years until 2011.