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Nigeria's member of the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football, Dr. Amos Adamu, is one of five candidates vying for two African seats on the executive committee of the world governing body, Fifa.
Nigeria's member of the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football, Dr. Amos Adamu, is one of five candidates vying for two African seats on the executive committee of the world governing body, Fifa.
FIFA has 24 executive committee members, out of which four seats are reserved for Africa. The current African members are CAF President, Issa Hayatou (Cameroon), Amadou Diakite of Mali, Ishmael Bhamjee of Botswana and Slim Chiboub of Tunisia.
Chiboub, chief organizer of the 1994 and 2004 African Nations Cup championships, replaced compatriot, Slim Aloulou in an election on the margin of last year's Cup of Nations finals. The two slots vacant now are those of Amadou Diakite (who is not re-contesting) and Bhamjee (who is re-contesting).
Bhamjee was told not to bother to seek re-election after he opposed Hayatou at last year's CAF Congress.
The five people contesting at the January 18, 2006 poll in Cairo are Nigeria's Adamu, Jacques Anouma of Cote d'Ivoire, Botswana's Bhamjee, Salif Keita of Mali and the South African second Vice-President of CAF, Molefi Oliphant.
Keita was named the African Player of the Year in 1972, and has a well-endowed football academy in his native Bamako. Anouma is not even on the executive committee of CAF.
'I have been going on with my campaign and I believe that I would get it", said Adamu.
The voters would be the 53 national federations, who will decide at the congress in Cairo which two of these five men would take up the FIFA seats. The FIFA executive committee is the highest decision-making organ in world football, and no Nigerian has ever been on the committee.
Diakite, chairman of the Football Committee of CAF, is not re-contesting his seat on the FIFA panel.