Confederation of African Football (CAF)  president Issa Hayatou has announced that South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma fully supports his re-election for the eighth term.

In a statement released this evening, the CAF President highlighted on the disccusion which he had with the South Africa President.

“President Zuma welcomed the tangible progress made in football on the continent, adding that he particularly follows the improvement in the quality of the teams and the level of play. To this effect, he remarked that he hopes to see at least one African team in the semi-finals of the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018.

“He also took the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of his government and his personal commitment to the continued objective of his “brother” Issa Hayatou, in his mission of developing football in Africa. He thus assured his host of South Africa’s flawless support for his candidacy for a new term at the helm of the CAF,” reads part of the statement.

Hayatou has ruled African football sice 1988 and will be presenting his papers in the March election where he is facing challenge from Council of Southern Africa fooball Association (COSAFA) where it has presented Madagascar FA president Ahmad for the upcoming Caf elections in Ethiopia.

The meeting between Hayatou and Zuma was held in Pretoria and was attendes by South Africa Sports Minister Fikile Mbaula and South African Football Association (Safa) President Danny Jordaan.

The long serving football boss had previously shown an intrest of not presenting his bid until Caf changed it statues in 2015,two years after his re-election,allowing officials serving past age of 70 to vie for the presidency.