• South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan said Patrice Motsepe's Confederation of African Football presidency has been accepted by Africa's football governing body.
• The presidential elections will take place on 12 March as CAF seeks a replacement for the banned Ahmad Ahmad.
• Motsepe has been jetting around the continent to drum up support for his candidacy.

South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan stated that they are awaiting FIFA's stamp of approval over Patrice Motsepe's candidacy for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) president.

Motsepe's candidacy has been accepted by the African governing body and only requires vetting from Fifa ahead of the 12 March elections.

Amid much fanfare last year, Motsepe was announced as SAFA's preferred candidate for the CAF presidency.

The position is up for grabs after CAF's Madagascan president Ahmad Ahmad was banned for five years from all footballing activity due to financial misconduct.

Jordaan said Motsepe, who is Mamelodi Sundowns' chairperson, has been drumming up support on the continent.

"Patrice has worked very hard. He's been to Egypt twice. He's been to East Africa. He's been to Qatar," said Jordaan.

"His first visit to Cairo was during the CAF Champions League where he met many of the leading officials. His next visit was during the CAF executive meeting and had a lunch with the executive members who were there. He's also been to West Africa where he visited a number of the countries there. He's also visited some Cosafa countries.

"We have a letter from CAF that confirms his candidacy and his documents have been received. We also have the date stamp from the Egyptian post office, so compliance has been met.

"All candidates must go through two eligibility tests, one done by CAF's governance committee. Because the CAF president is an automatic FIFA vice president, the CAF president, along with other members who are contesting positions on the FIFA Council, must go for vetting. We're expecting a decision from there sometime next week."

Jordaan said the vetting processes needs to be trusted, but with Motsepe having engaged with some Southern African football leaders who's vote will be critical for his ascension to the coveted top job that has been in either North African or Francophone hands.

Ahmad was a rare example of a Southern African president, but his tenure was mired in controversy.

"When you say the dirty tricks will continue, you speak of them as if they have already started. We have to wait though as these are procedural and necessary processes. Let them complete the processes and if they need more time, let them do a thorough job," Jordaan said.

"The Zambian and Zimbabwean Football association presidents have teams at the African Nations Championship (Chan) and Patrice had an engagement with them but we feel pretty confident. We've got significant support from Cosafa nations, even though the downside is that we've yet to meet."

Source: News24