October 21 – Norberto de Castro will stand against incumbent president Artur de Almeida e Silva (pictured) in the elections of the Angolan Football Federation (FAF) after the electoral commission confirmed his eligibility.
On October 9, De Castro was declared ineligible because of a lack of documentation, but upon appeal the electoral commission ruled that De Castro proved sufficiently that he no longer serves on the board of his ‘Norberto De Castro Sports and School Club’.
The electoral committee’s initial decision was almost a deja vu for De Castro. In 2020, de Almeida e Silva retained his position, but local courts suspended his re-election because FAF’s electoral commission had barred De Castro from running against the incumbent.
Dismissing the ruling of the local court, then FIFA’s chief member associations officer Véron Mosengo-Omba intervened with a letter threatening third-party suspension. Mosengo-Omba is now general secretary of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
He was a controversial choice of president when he was first elected in 2016. In 2015, De Almeida e Silva was convicted by a Luanda court for an attempt to embezzle $10 million from telecoms company Unitel.
De Almeida e Silva is also the president of Cosafa, the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations.
With its 14 members, the regional governing body yields a degree of influence. Upon his election as Cosafa boss in 2022, De Almeida e Silva immediately pledged the body’s 14 votes to Gianni Infantino, who was re-elected as FIFA president by acclamation at last year’s congress in Kigali, Rwanda.
Alves Simoes will serve as the third candidate in the FAF elections that will be staged later this month.
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