A story was told to this columnist of a development that took place in a room somewhere between two presidents of football confederations.
Aleksander Čeferin led the delegation of the Union of European Football Association (Uefa) and Patrice Motsepe, who three months earlier had ascended to the presidency of the Confederation of African Football (Caf), was Čeferin’s opposite number.
Before the two leaders broke away for a tete-a-tete, an overzealous member of the European delegation felt it fit to indulge Motsepe about how they were benefactors of the Africans.
In detailing their assistance, he anchored it by emphasising how Caf were recipients of financial benevolence from their northern hemisphere counterparts with an undertone of how eternally grateful they must be.
One imagines Motsepe, after listening attentively, turning to Čeferin and remarking matter of factly: the money can be returned if it had created a culture of dependency. A remark, one senses, uttered without seeking a response. But one that appeared to achieve the aim of hammering home a salient point — Caf was past the posture of a pity project and was to shed the image of paupers and reset in the rules of engagement.
Chief clown no more
No longer will Caf be a willing participant in being considered a chief clown inside the tent of global football.
After this meeting, Motsepe ended all charity programmes and donations and insisted that the Caf he will lead has a duty of care to raise its own money.
Talk is cheap. For global football to change its worldview of Caf, work needed to be done to convince all and sundry that “the new sheriff in town” was not giving lip service towards converting the body from a complete basket case to a fully functional organ capable of fending for itself.
A financial turnaround and revenue generation strategy to woo corporate sponsors to funnel finance was implemented to raise Caf from the debt-ridden, scandal-attracting body to a healthy financial state, moving from a $140m (R2.3bn) liability to proclaiming a $10m profit for the first time in eight years in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
The moving of the needle set in motion for the organisational evolution that has entered Caf into a new realm, establishing a relationship of equals between the two biggest federations of the six continental confederations that comprise the world football governing body Fifa family.
The collaboration between Caf and Uefa was further bolstered this week when Motsepe and Čeferin signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of the Fifa congress held in Vancouver, Canada. It will run until June 30 2031 and will combine several forms of strategic expertise and experience.
The development comes hot on the heels of similar arrangements the Europeans had fostered with fellow confederations like the North, Central America and Caribbean (Concacaf) and the South American regional powerhouse Conmebol.
Significant growth
“African Football has experienced significant growth over the past few years, and we continue to build towards making it among the best in the world … We are strengthening our historic ties and friendship between Africa and Europe that has seen some of the best African players succeeding in European leagues,” Motsepe said.
“This partnership includes youth and women’s football development, the education and training of coaches and referees, the enhancement of governance, and institutional development. It also reflects Caf and Uefa’s shared vision of using football as a tool to bring together and unite the people of our two continents.”
This co-operation will allow for Caf member associations to participate in selected Uefa youth competitions. Ongoing are discussions on future iterations of the Uefa-Caf Meridian Cup, alongside opportunities for reciprocal involvement in initiatives such as the Caf African Schools Championship refereeing.
Opening opportunities for match officials and referee instructors to gain international experience through tournaments, courses and technical programmes, including participation of elite referees in each other’s competitions is another welcome development.
“By working closely with Caf, we aim to invest in people, share expertise and strengthen football’s positive and lasting impact on communities across both continents,” said Čeferin.
Co-operation, not exploitation. Credibility, not charity. Equals.
- X - @bbkunplugged99
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.