Four-time African Footballer of the Year and president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), Samuel Eto’o, has become the second former player to be elected to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee, following in the footsteps of Zambian legend Kalusha Bwalya.
Eto’o was elected unopposed during the 14th CAF Extraordinary General Assembly held on Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt.
At the same event, CAF president Patrice Motsepe was re-elected unopposed for another four-year term.
Eto’o, a two-time Africa Cup of Nations winner, is only the second former footballer to secure a seat on the CAF Executive. Bwalya, former president of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), was the first to be elected to the committee on 23 February 2008, serving until 2016.
Eto’o has expressed his deep honour at receiving the election, calling it a significant milestone in his career.
“For the second time in the history of African football, the delegates of the General Assembly of the African Football Confederation elected, after my predecessor Kalusha Bwalya, a former footballer, to sit on the Executive Committee of our governing body,” Eto’o said.
“Dear delegates, it is a great honour for me. I sincerely thank you. Your unanimous vote expresses your confidence in my modest abilities and the consideration you have for former footballers.”
Eto’o pledges to work with Motsepe
The Fecafoot president also expressed gratitude to his federation for the support leading up to his election to the continental governing body.
“I also salute the delegates of the Cameroonian Football Federation, whose support has never failed me. Of course, I extend my sincere gratitude to the Executive Committee of FECAFOOT; without you, I would not have reached this height,” the former Cameroonian international said.
Eto’o has pledged to work closely with Dr. Motsepe in taking African football to greater heights on the global stage, following a renewed 4-year mandate for the CAF president.
“I also thank Dr. Patrice Motsepe, the President of CAF, for his warm welcome. Dear Elder, I assure you of my sincere and frank collaboration. Under your enlightened leadership, we will give African football the place it deserves in global competition,” Eto’o said.
“Thank you to you, dear friends from Africa and elsewhere, who love and appreciate me. Your affection has given me the strength to overcome the challenges I have faced until today. Let us continue to write history together.”
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