Caf has announced that Africa will back Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa of Bahrain for his Fifa presidency following an executive committee meeting that was held on Friday at Kigali Serena Hotel.

Africa, which is the biggest voting bloc with 54 of the total 209 votes, has emerged as a key battle ground for Fifa candidates, with all the candidates heading to the Rwandan capital where Caf executive committee members are attending the ongoing Chan 2016.

Caf first vice president Suketu Patel said , “The Caf executive committee decided that they will give full support to Sheikh Salman to his candidacy for Fifa presidency.”

Caf’s decision to support Sheikh Salman was expected after Caf signed a memorandum of understanding last month.

This does not however mean that all African countries will vote for Sheikh Salman who also has the full support of the Asian Football Confederation where he is president.

Caf president Issa Hayatou had earlier told the media that, “If we decide to support Salman, is it a crime? Who can prevent us from doing this?”

South African Tokyo Sexwale whose campaign is in jeopardy following this decision is likely to withdraw from the race for football’s top job.

Italian Gianni Infantino and former Fifa deputy secretary general Jerome Champagne are also in Kigali to campaign to African FA representatives who attended the meeting on Friday.

Prince Ali of Jordan is the only candidate who did not make it to Kigali.

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com