The chairman of the newly formed African Club Association (ACA) Hersi Ally Said has showered Caf president Patrice Motsepe with praises and is of the opinion that the acclaimed mining magnate is the best thing to have happened to African football. Ally Said is also chairman of Young Africans SC from Tanzania.
Some of ACA’s objectives are to ensure that African football clubs are commercially viable, globally competitive and profitable. Its other goal is to build partnerships with sponsors, the private sector and governments to build stadiums that comply with Caf and Fifa standards and other football infrastructure and facilities in each of the 54 Caf member associations. Motsepe took over office in March 2021 after being elected unopposed as president of the continent’s football mother body.
Since his tenure, there has been immense and evident improvement in Caf, with the former Mamelodi Sundowns chairman making an instant impact that has seen the standard of African football improve in most avenues.
During an exclusive sit down with the SA Football Journalists Association (Safja) in Sandton, Ally Said could not stop raving about Motsepe’s impact and how he has welcomed club owners to form part of Caf through the newly founded ACA.
“I would like to take this opportunity to appreciate the endless efforts made by the Caf president Dr Patrice Motsepe. He made it clear that he wants to have the voices of clubs in Caf and that is something that has never been the case before in African football until he took over office,” said Ally Said.
“So, we must be very thankful for that. Me coming from a football background and running Young Africans, I am very happy with all the initiatives introduced by President Motsepe, I am very appreciative of what he has done so far.
“For the longest time, it has been very difficult for us as football clubs to have our voices in the decision making at Caf.
We had to go through the federations first. And for me, my question has always been how is it that you cannot have the biggest stakeholders in African football not being part of Caf. Who are participating in all the Caf tournaments that we have? The players. And who are the players managed by the football clubs?
“So, we really do appreciate the Caf president and his executive committee for the wise decision of engaging and allowing football clubs to be part of the highest football body on the continent.”
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