The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has decided to back Sheikh Salman Ebraihim Al-Khalifa.The decision was reached after an Executive Committee meeting held in Kigali Rwanda.

The 50 year old Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa is a member of the Bahrain Royal Family. He graduated from University of Bahrain in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in English
Literature and History. Shaikh Salman has been involved in football for many years dating back to the 1980s when he played
in the youth team of Bahrain Division I team, Riffa Club.

Since leaving Riffa Club to focus on his academic studies, Shaikh Salman has held executive positions at the BFA. In 1996, he
was appointed Chairman of the National Team, elected Vice President two years later and eventually became the Football
Association’s president in 2002. He has also served as the Co-Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee at several FIFA
Tournaments such as, the FIFA World Cups, FIFA Beach Tournaments, FIFA Club Championships, etc. He was also Deputy Chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee at Beijing in 2008.

Sheikh Salman was president of the Bahrain Football Association at time of the “golden era” of Bahraini football. The national team was a match away from
qualifying to the 2006 FIFA World Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup. The team also managed to reach the 2004 Asian Cup Semi Final, the furthest the national team has ever reached in the continental
championship. The national team FIFA ranking also reached its highest in the history of Bahraini Football, as it moved up to the 44th position.

On 15 October 2015, Sheikh Salman announced his candidature to become the next president of FIFA after the election of February 2016. His likely candidature aroused criticism from human rights organizations, notably Human Rights Watch, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and
Democracy. He was accused of “complicity in crimes against humanity” for allegedly heading a committee that identified 150 athletes, including international footballers, involved in pro-democracy demonstrations in 2011, many of whom were later imprisoned and tortured. He denied the alleglations.

The Names of all the 5 candidates include Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim AL Khalifa of Bahrain, Jerome Champagne of France, Gianni Infantino of Italy and Tokyo Sexwale of South Africa.The elections will be held of the 26th of February.

It is not clear whether the entire CAF will follow through with this decision.The Botswana FA have already indorsed South African Business man Sexwale.

Mubanga Aaron

Freelance Football Writer |Freelance sports presenter TV & Radio|Sports Analyst|Social media manager|mubajnrabntv@gmail.com