CAF President, Patrice Motsepe has said African football is growing in the right direction and is proud of the historic achievements of the continent at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Dr. Motsepe stated this in his message on Thursday at the 45th CAF Ordinary Assembly in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

The CAF president also revealed that the prize monies of all major CAF competitions have increased significantly over the past two years which has contributed to improving the quality and competitiveness of the competitions

Here is the CAF President’s full text at the 45th CAF Ordinary General Assembly.

“We are excited and proud of the historic achievements at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 by Morocco as well as Senegal, Cameroon, Tunisia, and Ghana. 

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“The qualification to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 by Morocco was the first such achievement by an African nation.

“This reflects the significant improvement in the global competitiveness of African football and gives us confidence that our objective of ensuring that an African nation wins the FIFA World Cup is within reach. 

“We’ve always believed that the success and growth of football

on the African Continent is dependent on the success and growth of football in each Member Association country.

“Building partnerships with sponsors, investors, and Governments is essential for the competitiveness and growth of football in each African country.

“We are increasingly getting feedback from our sponsors, partners, and other stakeholders that CAF is now seen and respected as a Confederation that implements and adheres to governance and auditing global best practices. 

“The prize monies of all major CAF competitions have been increased significantly over the past two years and this has contributed to improving the quality and competitiveness of our competitions.

“The CAF General Secretary has done good work in recruiting qualified staff to ensure that the CAF Secretariat and Administration meet the expectations of our Member Associations and Zonal Unions and the demands for hosting world-class and globally competitive competitions. 

“The AFCON U17 and U20 competitions were successfully hosted in Algeria and Egypt and the AFCON U23 will take place in Morocco in June-July this year.

“The first African Schools Football Championship finals for Boys and Girls, was a huge success and took place in South Africa during April 2023. Over 400 000 Boys and Girls from 41 countries participated in this championship. 

“We expect a significant increase in the number of schools that will participate in the African Schools Football Championship 2023/2024.

“A record crowd attendance of approximately 46 000 attended the final of the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (“WAFCON”) Morocco 2022 in Rabat. 

“Nigeria, Zambia, Morocco and South Africa are the African nations that have qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023. 

“For the first time in the history of African Women’s football, CAF is contributing and assisting these nations with financial and technical support. 

“The partnership between CAF and FIFA (the FIFA-CAF Refereeing “Star” Project) on training and improving African referees is making good progress and will improve the quality, respect and credibility of African referees on the Continent and globally.

“20 male referees and 5 female referees are currently being trained and will be employed in terms of this partnership. 

“CAF has invested USD 550 000 to introduce VAR and various training courses for VAR operators in each CAF Zonal Union and is also in the process of establishing VAR training centers (“VAR Hubs”) in the CAF Zonal Unions. 

“The CAF Statutes will be amended in two phases. The first phase of the amendments to the CAF statutes will reflect CAF’s commitment to Good Governance, Ethics, Accountability, International Auditing, Accounting and Financial best practices, and Transparency.

“These amendments will benefit CAF in its discussions with potential sponsors and will be submitted at the 45th CAF Ordinary General Meeting. 

“The kick-off of the Inaugural African Super League will take place on 21 October 2023 with the eight top-ranked African football clubs from eight African countries.

“I am confident that the changes and reforms that we have introduced in CAF and African football will make football in our Member Association countries and on the African Continent globally competitive and self-supporting.

“We recognize the unique power of football to unite people from different racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds and are committed to making our contribution to improving the living conditions and uniting the people of Africa and the world.”