South African mining magnate Patrice Motsepe has been elected president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Motsepe succeeds Malagasy Ahmad Ahmad, who is serving a two-year FIFA ban over “governance issues”, and will require his vast array of business skills to fix the organization.
A plan brokered by FIFA puts Motsepe in charge with Senegalese Augustin Senghor and Mauritanian Ahmed Yahya as vice-presidents and Anouma a special advisor.
Motsepe will be the first South African to lead CAF, following in the footsteps of two Egyptians, a Sudanese, an Ethiopian, a Cameroonian and a Malagasy.
Unlike previous African football leaders, who came from national association backgrounds, his connection with the sport stems from owning record of 2016 African champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
Until a recent rule change, the supporter of Spanish giants Barcelona would not have been eligible to become president as candidates had to be CAF executive committee members.
The 59-year-old began his career with a stint as a lawyer, before delving into mining and many other ventures. Forbes magazine estimates his net worth at $2.9 billion (2.4 billion euros).
