By Ogenyi Ogenyi,Uyo
Chairman of Akwa United Football Club of Nigeria, Mr Paul Bassey has been elected as the 2nd Vice President of African Clubs Association (ACA), at the launching of the association yesterday in Cairo, Egypt.
Four Nigeria Premier Football League clubs namely; Akwa United, Plateau United, Bendel Insurance and Enugu Rangers were invited by CAF to attend the association’s inauguration in Egypt and Elder Bassey, a veteran journalist and seasoned sports administrator was unanimously voted the second (2nd) Vice President by delegates.
In a post election reaction Bassey thanked his colleagues in Cairo including Barrister Amobi of Enugu Rangers who encouraged him to run for the position.
The new ACA VP said the victory was not personal, “I dedicate this victory to Nigerian Clubs on whose platform I stood to contest. Even the CAF President today acknowledged the huge contributions Nigerian clubs have made to the development of the game in the continent.
“There are a lot of positives to take away here and when we get back we have to share our experiences in order to build a better structure for our league as most clubs in Africa have dwarfed us success and infrastructure wise.”
Engineer Hersi Ally Said of Young African Football Club of Tanzania emerged the President, while the Marketing Director of Kaizer Chiefs Football Club of South Africa Jessica Motaung will serve as the 1st Vice President of the association.
African Clubs Association is a body formed by the Confederation of African Football CAF to help improve the quality and competitiveness of African Football.
The principal objective of the association is to help make African football commercially viable, globally competitive, attracting sponsors and building partnership with both private and government in the areas of providing standard sporting infrastructure as well as development of young talents within the continent.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe and other top officials as well as representatives from FIFA attended the event.
