Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) has thrown its weight behind its immediate former president Mr. Leodegar Chilla Tenga for FIFA Council membership, his predecessor Mr. Jamal Malinzi has confirmed.
“Mr. Leodegar Tenga today filed his papers to stand for FIFA Council member. He has the full support of Tanzania Football Federation,” Malinzi who took over from the respected administrator in 2013 broke the news.
Tenga, 61, will be challenging for one of the six slots reserved for Africa in the non-executive, supervisory and strategic body of the governing body of association football, which sets the vision for global football, come March 16, 2017 CAF congress.
The CAF Executive Committee member becomes the second person to declare his candidature for the seats after legendary “King” Kalusha Bwalya, who is the immediate former Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president, and also a member of the CAF Executive Committee.
Tenga played for Yanga SC and Pan African FC during his heydays, and captained the historic Taifa Stars team which graced 1980 Nations Cup, the last time Tanzania appeared at the continental stage.
He had a spell as Secretary General of TFF between 1988 and 1990, before serving 8-year term as President from 2005 to 2013. He was elected Chairman of Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) for a four-year term in 2007.
Tenga has also been a member of FIFA’s Technical Study Group (TSG). The TSG has been present at every FIFA competition for over 40 years, identifying trends and providing informed analysis on all the technical and tactical advances the game has witnessed in that time.
He will be banking on the support of the 12-members of CECAFA to propel his bid before spreading his wings to other regions for backing.
Africa is currently represented in the 37-member body (FIFA Council) by former members of the defunct FIFA Executive Committee, Abo Rida Hany (Egypt), Nsekera Lydia (Burundi),Bouchamaoui Tarek (Tunisia), Constant Omari (DR Congo), Camara Almamy Kabele (Guinea) and Kwesi Nyantakyi (Ghana) who were recently elected during CAF Congress in September.
Other representatives from CAF includes; CAF President and Senior Vice President of FIFA Issa Hayatou from Cameroon, and Vice President CAF Chung David from Papua New Guinea.
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