adminLAGOS. — The head of Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, seems to be considering a bid to stand in next year’s CAF presidential elections.
Applications to stand in March’s elections are already open and close on November 12.
But, Pinnick says there are a lot of factors for him to consider before committing to being on the ballot paper.
Ironically, Pinnick and Ahmad were all key members of the rebellion, fronted by COSAFA president Philip Chiyangwa, which ended Issa Hayatou’s lengthy time as head of African footballl.
The 49-year-old Nigerian admitted he had wanted Ahmad to stay on, for at least a second term, but he now seems to have changed his mind.
“From the beginning the idea was to have the incumbent Ahmad to get re-elected for a second tenure or even a third tenure,” Pinnick told BBC Sport Africa.
“But the issue of trust started coming in and that’s what led to the initial breakdown (with Ahmad) but in football politics you never say never.”
He did not give further details on his relationship with Ahmad but last year Pinnick lost his role as a Caf vice-president, without explanation.
Pinnick believes CAF have a lot of issues that need to be addressed but that he has a lot of things to consider before he decided if he will stand in the polls.
“The truth is that you need to look at indexes, you have to look at your family — family is the most prized asset that I have — so for example if my family said “don’t” then I won’t,” he insisted.
“Then you have your larger family which is your football family — your exco your congress — if they decide to give you the go ahead then you go to government.
“Then from government you also look at some of your friends — it is not easy you have to consult your zone — you have to consult your colleagues because they are the voters.
“You have to let them know that even if you get elected we will need to look at the reality.
“What is the reality? There are a lot of things wrong fundamentally in Caf right now — our credibility is at the lowest ebb our integrity is nowhere to be found — so we have a lot of challenges unless we keep deceiving ourselves.
“Human beings make mistakes and the only way you can correct those mistakes is to ensure that you know you have made these mistakes and genuinely want to correct it if that’s the case we can’t sit there and do nothing.
“Nobody is in a hurry I am not desperate I am going to be just 50 in December so there is a lot of time for me if I want to pursue a career path in football administration in the future.” — BBC Sport.
Online Reporter