Natasha Tsichlas misses out on CAF Exco position

SABC Sport has learnt that Tsichlas has failed to make the cut for the CAF Elections-approved nomination list, after the Association allegedly submitted a late application for her candidature, which was then declared invalid. 

Tsichlas, one of the longest-serving football officials in the country, was in line to contest for the woman’s position in the CAF Exco, against former AS Vita Club president Bestine Kazadi Ditabala of DR Congo. 

With the former Mamelodi Sundowns director out of the running, this means Kazadi-Ditabala will now go unopposed at the elections on 12 March 2025. 

“The application was too late because we sent everything on deadline day, and this doesn’t work because CAF uses registered post for the applications,” said Tsichlas.

“It was also good to receive the support of the [SAFA] NEC to stand because of my experience, especially in women’s football, but this was exactly on the last day.”

The CAF Governance Committee, after going through the integrity checks in the past few weeks, released the names of the candidates set to appear on the ballot, with Tsichlas officially omitted. 

Initially, SAFA NEC had to choose between Tsichlas and Kaizer Chiefs commercial and marketing director Jessica Motaung, who is also on the CAF Women’s Committee and the African Club Association vice-president, on who to back.

Some NEC members have since gone public that they were backing Motaung because of her youth, which will add to the generational mix in president Patrice Motsepe’s second term – having been nominated unopposed. 

However, Tsichlas, a veteran of more than three decades in football administration, claims otherwise.

“I was supporting Jessica myself also, but it was already too late for the both of us to enter for this position. You don’t apply for this kind of a powerful position on the last day,” she stressed.

“I was grateful for the NEC’s support for my candidacy, as they felt that I had the needed experience to serve in the CAF Exco. There was an NEC round robin decision around this.”

Following the adoption by the CAF Congress in Addis Ababa in October 2024, CAF Exco members now receive an annual bonus of $80 000 (R1.5 million). 

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