41st CAF General Assembly: Speech of President Ahmad Ahmad

Ladies and gentlemen, Representatives of the Egyptian authorities, FIFA President, Madam Secretary-General of FIFA, Members of the FIFA Council, Members of the CAF Executive Committee, Heads of National Federations, CAF Partners, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me first of all to thank you for coming here in Cairo on the eve of the African Nations Cup final, which will conclude a historic one. I am very pleased to share with you the unforgettable moments of the 2019 African Nations Cup, which will remain in our memory forever.

Let us first salute this wonderful country of Egypt that has received us and worked hard to prepare everything, to renew everything, to transform places within five months after receiving the rights of hosting by the CAF Executive Committee.

Under the patronage of His Excellency President Abdelfattah Sissi, President of the Republic, our Egyptian friends have mobilized very quickly to meet the best conditions and welcome the 24 participating countries, as well as welcoming a large community of supporters from all over the continent.

I would like to thank my colleague and friend, the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), Hani Abu Reda, for mobilizing his team and for overseeing the pace of action to prepare for the competition.

All of you have been able to oversee and ensure the quality of investment, and efforts at all levels of the institution without forgetting these beautiful evenings in the game at an exceptional level, which was highly appreciated by players.

For all these reasons, I ask you to applaud Egypt and the Egyptian people.

CAF has embarked on a major reform program that will lead our institution towards the principle of evaluating all competitions with the participation of development partners and in consultation with trainers from relevant countries.

At the level of the areas to which the laws have been amended now, I promise you a commitment from staff to monitor the development of new rules we want to see achieved in six (6) months. Each region of this season will receive a US $ 500,000 grant, which will allow them to do more in terms of development.

Finally, as part of the restructuring of the regions, CAF will fund the salaries of executives.

In this stream of reforms, I must quote the establishment of the Governance Committee. The CAF now has a body that will ensure consistency and transparency in all its undertakings and in every independence.

I should also mention the increase in grants to National Societies that will increase from $ 100,000 to $ 200,000 annually.

Another measure that deserves your attention is the differential increase in compensation for allowances paid to match officials and taken into account by the CAF. All these decisions come in a new wave of reforms and aim to give a new dynamic to the activities of our union.

I sincerely hope that all these reforms and all these measures will not have difficulties in succeeding for this simple reason: we are still waiting to organize the situation around the ownership of our official headquarters here in Cairo.

Dear friends,

I must be quite honest on this sensitive subject: As long as Egypt has not signed the headquarters agreement here in Cairo, all these things would be absurd.

I want as evidence of what happened in Paris which for me is a direct result of this general situation. I will never blame France for its participation in this work. On the contrary, this has allowed us to provide explanations about what we are living on this continent.

Take the case of our staff: How can one explain that 35% of our headquarters staff, from many African countries are still unable to obtain a visa to work here?

I consider this situation very serious and ask today, what provisions would you like to take in such a work? We received a lot of promises but I did not see anything happen.

Many of you, among them, did not understand the true meaning of my approach to FIFA.

Ladies and gentlemen, delegates, I have appealed to FIFA. This invitation is my own initiative and I take full responsibility. In the face of the situation that has worsened step by step, I asked FIFA President Ginny Infantino to provide me with temporary support.

He is also a man who has suffered many critics but was recently re-elected with about 98% of the vote. He is a relaxed leader of undeniable confidence. I found him a sensitive man who loved Africa.

FIFA is the umbrella body of all the federations. FIFA must turn when we face difficulties of this magnitude. President Gianni responded positively to my invitation.

He allowed me to ask our sister Fatma Samoura, FIFA General Secretary, to agree to accompany us in the implementation phase of new structures and more generally to help CAF to continue the reforms that we started, as well as follow the investigations that FIFA's Governance Committee would like to engage on the management of the Central Administration.

Obviously, all these plans will have to be followed by a General CAF audit. I would like to further clarify my position in this collaboration with FIFA for which many nostalgic of a bygone era keep criticizing me.

I keep myself rooted in a traditional African education which asks that when I encounter difficulties or problems I solve them within my own family and never outside. Is it abnormal for a President of a Confederation to ask for support? I think on the contrary, this is commendable act.

I admit that in my capacity as President I do not have all the necessary expertise. I am and remain a politician who at all moments can appeal to anyone in his domain, likely to bring me the best resolutions, the best solutions.

Dear sisters, dear brothers, dear friends, I am today halfway through my term and I remain fully focused on the actions to be taken for the coming years.

In view of her experience at the United Nations, success of the sanitation program and turnaround of FIFA during the past three years, I remain confident in the next mission that Madam Fatma Samourah will lead us in.

Our reform package will have to move very quickly under the strong guideline of our Executive Committee and General Assembly.

It will also support the mission of our General Secretary, Mr. Mouad Hajji and his team made up of young African executives from diverse horizons to ensure the efficiency and the sense of anticipation we have began to feel at the secretariat.

In conclusion of this speech which summarizes the programs, activities, and future actions, I can say today that I am a man firmly attached to the exercise of my responsibility, happy to be at the helm of CAF despite the difficulties, maybe even, the immensity of this mission that you have entrusted me with.

As always I advocate for a strong CAF in all its components, the presidents of the National Associations, leaders, operational bodies, legends, Elders, the Executive Committee and Congress. All together with the necessary support from our Heads of State, fundamental support for we Africans, that we will continue to build, strengthen and stabilize the structures of our dear Confederation.

Thank you for your attention,

Long live African unity,

Long live African football,

Long live the Confederation of African football.