Addis Ababa

The Confederation of African Football congress Tuesday has approved a proposal to give each association presidents an annual salary of $50,000 (Sh6.45m).

The money will come from the $400,000 budget on annual contributions.

The congress was told that the African football body paid $50 million (about Sh6.45 billion) in an out of court settlement to former marketing company Lagardere Sports after abruptly cancelling their long-term agreement.

The French company had sued for compensation after their 10-year, $1-billion agreement was abruptly cancelled in 2019.

Lagardere Sports held the marketing, sponsorship and television rights to all CAF competitions for two decades, but CAF said it had to cancel the deal after two court rulings found that the agreement was made without proper tender.

The company, now known as Lagardere Unlimited, sued for compensation before accepting a settlement, with CAF paying in two equal tranches, the last of which was paid at the end of last year, CAF's finance committee vice chairman Andrew Kamanga said.

CAF president Patrice Motsepe told congress the organisation had made a $72-million (Sh9.29bn)profit from this year's Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cote d’Ivoire, significantly increased from a $4-million (Sh516m) profit for the 2021 finals in Cameroon.

CAF said it projected a revenue of almost $150 million (Sh19.35bn) for the 2024-2025 financial year, with expenses of $138.2 million (Sh17.83bn).

Some 30 per cent of the budget would be spent on development programmes and contributions to CAF’s 54-member associations.

Motsepe, expected to stand for re-election next year, said CAF wanted to increase African football's revenue to $1-billion (Sh129bn) over the next eight years. "We are having a lot of discussions with potential sponsors," he told the congress in the Ethiopian capital.

He said CAF wanted to give $1-million (Sh129m) annually to each member association from 2026.