Candidates to succeed Djahid Zefizef at the head of the Algerian Football Federation (FAF), who resigned last July, have until August 13 to submit their applications. The elective General Assembly will take place on September 21.
Djahid Zefizef, former FAF President
Djahid Zefizef, former FAF president, was close to Djamel Belmadi. It can hardly be said that the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) has enjoyed peaceful days since the resignation of Djahid Zefizef, its president, on July 16. His successor was originally due to be elected on September 4, but the electoral timetable was disrupted. The elective General Meeting will take place on September 21, after the deadline for applications, initially set for August 13, was pushed back by two weeks.
Candidates' files will be examined on August 28 and 29, the final list of candidates will be published on August 30, and after consideration of any appeals, the final list will be published on September 7. Candidates will therefore have just under two weeks to campaign, as the FAF has seen two presidents in the space of two years: Charaf-Eddine Amara (2021-2022, who resigned after Algeria's elimination from the World Cup by Cameroon) and Djahid Zefizef.
The eye for power
Several names of candidates are circulating, although it's not clear whether these rumours should be taken seriously.The latest to emerge is one of the most unexpected, namely Dif Kaddour, president of the CTRB Hassi Behbah amateur club in the Blida league. For several weeks now, there has been talk of the candidacy of Walid Saadi, a former member of the Football Association's Federal Bureau when Mohamed Raouraoua was in charge.
We'll have to wait until August 27 to find out whether Meziane Ighil, a former NA Hussein Dey player and ex-international who has coached a number of clubs as well as the national team, will be a candidate, as he seems to have intended. The same applies to Abdelkrim Medouar, former president of ASO Chlef, now head of the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP). On the other hand, it seems less and less likely that Raouf Selim Bernaoui, the former Minister of Sport (April 2019 to January 2020), will submit his application.
Indeed, the future president of a body that has been plagued by chronic instability for the past two years, and whose influence in Africa is very limited, will automatically be endorsed by those in power. "To hope to be elected president of the FAF, you have to be close to the circles of power. Without this, it is not possible to hope to occupy this position", says a source close to the authority. But Djahid Zefizef, who officially resigned after failing to secure election to the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), knows better than anyone that the powers that be have courteously but firmly invited him to step aside.
