KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING —- ???

Senegal Football Federation president Augustin Senghor has submitted his candidacy for the Confederation of African Football (Caf) presidential elections in March.

Senghor, who has yet to publicly announce his campaign, told BBC Sport Africa he is the fifth candidate for the elections when asked if he had applied.

“Yes, this is true,” the Caf Executive Committee member replied. “When the time comes, I will communicate about this candidacy. This will be after our game against Guinea-Bissau on Sunday.”

Five names have now applied for the post, with incumbent Ahmad (Madagascar), Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast), Patrice Motsepe (South Africa) and Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania) all having also announced bids.

Ahmad’s candidacy is in doubt as BBC Sport Africa understands he has breached various codes of Fifa’s ethics, with any ban likely to rule the 60-year-old, who has previously denied any wrongdoing, out of the elections.

Senghor is the mayor of Goree, an island off the coast of the Senegalese capital Dakar, and president of top-flight side US Goree.

The politician, whose nation play an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Bissau on Sunday, has been a member of Caf’s Executive Committee since 2019.

Caf’s elections are set to take place in the Moroccan capital Rabat on 12 March.

As for Ahmad, a CAF statement said:

On medical advice, the President of The Confederation of African Football Mr Ahmad Ahmad, has been prescribed a convalescence period which will last at least 20 days during which he is requested to limit his efforts so as to totally restore his energy.

This unavailability temporarily makes it impossible to conduct the normal duties linked to a function which requires good health. In this situation, the first Vice-President Mr Omari Constant will take the interim lead of the CAF executive until 30th November 2020.

This decision is set out in Article 24 paragraph 8 of the statute, which states that « If the President is absent or temporarily unavailable, the first Vice-President shall deputise ».

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