By Kalumiana Kalumiana
Andrew Kamanga says he gave it his best shot in his election loss for a FIFA Council seat.
The Football Association of Zambia president finished 8th, falling short of Africa’s top five positions on the FIFA Council that were contested for on Wednesday during CAF’s extraordinary congress held in Cairo, Egypt, and were held in parallel with the CAF’s executive committee elections.
The sixth seat is automatically taken by the CAF president who is one of eight FIFA vice presidents.
Kamanga stated that he had graciously conceded the defeat and congratulated the five contenders who beat him in the race for the Zurich seats.
“On Wednesday, I was privileged to be part of the 14th extraordinary general assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Cairo,” Kamanga said. “I was among the candidates for the FIFA Council seat but unfortunately did not make it. Despite the setback, I am grateful for the support I received from my country.”
“I wish to congratulate my colleagues who have been elected to the FIFA Council and the CAF executive committee. Congratulations to the CAF president Dr Patrice Motsepe on his re-election for another four-year term.
“I gave it my best and can only hope for better luck next time.”
The FIFA Council is a 37-member body elected by their respective 76 continental federations on four-year term and is football’s supreme decision-making body.
Reelected are Fouzi Lekja of Morocco who got 49 votes including Egyptian Hani Aboo Ridha who tallied 35 votes.
The new faces are Djibrilla Hima of Niger who 35 votes and Kanizat Ibrahim of Comoros took the women’s seat with 30 votes.
Others are Ahmed Yahya from Mauritania tallied 29 votes while Souleymane Waberi of Djibouti received 29 votes.
But Nigerian Amaju Pinnick lost his FIFA seat with 28 votes while Andrew Kamanga was behind at number 8 and got 19 votes, one more than Yacine Idris Diallo of Cote D’Ivoire.
The FIFA Council is World Football’s non-executive decision-making body that convenes twice a year and whose functions include approving financial and technical matters including tournament hosting and international match calendars.
It also appoints a FIFA general secretary who runs the administrative day-to-day affairs at its Zurich headquarters.
