CAF Exco declines support for Liberian FA President’s candidature

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday in Cairo, Egypt declined to back Liberian Football Association (LFA) President Musa Bility in his bid to become the next FIFAPresident.

The 48-year-old Bility is one of four men set to stand in the Feb. 26, 2016 election to replace incumbent Sepp Blatter.

Bility is only the second African ever to make a bid for the job.

Brazilian Zico, Frenchman Michel Platini and South KoreanChung Mong-joon are the other names in the frame to stand in the election.

Bility says he believes 'this is Africa's time' to take the lead in world football, but his lack of support from CAF will be a blow to his candidacy.

A statement on the CAF website on Wednesday had said the Executive Committee received a request from Bility.

"He had the opportunity to explain the reasons that motivated his decision to run for the future election of the FIFA presidency.

"After a fraternal exchange, full of sincerity and cordiality, the CAF Executive Committee decided unanimously not to offer the requested CAF support to Bility, whilst wishing him luck in the continuation of his endeavour.

"To preserve the interests and unity of African football, it was agreed that Africa will give time to explore all options and decide.

"The CAF Executive Committee will meet on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28, following the closure of nominations for the FIFA presidency,’’ it said.

The Liberian has had a difficult relationship with his continent’s football governing body in recent years.

In 2011, he declared he would vote against Blatter in that year's FIFA elections, in contrast to most of his African colleagues.

A year later, he and the Liberian FA took a case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over changes to the way CAF elects its president.

The changes had favoured incumbent Issa Hayatou.

But the court twice ruled against the LFA.

Then in 2013, Bility was banned from all football activity by CAF after the governing body said he ``had violated statutes relating to the use of confidential documents."

Bility needs the written endorsement of at least five football associations to get onto the ballot for the election to choose a replacement for outgoing president Blatter on Feb. 26.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the deadline for candidates to register is Oct. 26.

The CAF Executive Committee also mandated Hayatou to conduct the necessary consultations with other Confederations’ presidents in connection with the ongoing reforms at FIFA.

Moreover, the Committee has unanimously proposed Hani Ridaand Omari Selemani, African members on the FIFA Executive Committee, as CAF’s representatives on the ‘Task Force Reforms’ established by FIFA.

In Taiwan" Government evacuates hundreds as Typhoon Soudelor churns towards island

Taiwan evacuated hundreds of people from their homes on Friday as the strongest typhoon to threaten the island in two years churned towards it and was expected to make landfall early on Saturday.

Authorities said 611 people had been moved, most from east coast areas, as Typhoon Soudelor approached. The storm has already claimed its first victims, with two people dead and one missing in choppy waters off the coast of Taiwan's northeasternYilan county, the coastguard said.

Flights were cancelled, offices shuttered and schools suspended across the island. The island's high-speed rail service, operating normally Friday, will be suspended as of Saturday morning.

Wind and rain whipped trees in the capital, Taipei, and media showed waves along the coast as high as five metres (16 feet).

The island's military said it has put tens of thousands of troops and thousands of vehicles on reserve for rescue operations as flood warnings were issued for parts of the island's northwest.

The typhoon has been labelled a category 3 storm on a scale of 1 to 5 by Tropical Storm Risk and was expected to rise to category 4 within hours.

It had winds of 173 kph (107 mph) close to its centre, the Central Weather Bureau said, making it the strongest storm to threaten the island since 2013's Typhoon Usagi.

It has already drawn comparisons to 2009's Typhoon Morakot, which cut a wide path of destruction over southern Taiwan, leaving about 700 people dead or missing and causing $3 billion worth of damage.

Soudelor has also spurred the end of a week-long protest by students in front of the island's ministry of education against revisions to history textbooks.

After passing over Taiwan, the typhoon is expected to cross the Taiwan Strait and hit the Chinese province of Fujian, where the government has begun evacuating people who live on the coast.

High speed rail services to or running through Fujian will also be cancelled for much of the weekend, China's Xinhua news agency said.

The storm could even end up affecting northern China as it slowly grinds its way inland into next week, loosing power but still bringing heavy rain, Xinhua added.

Typhoons are common at this time of year in the South China Sea and Pacific, picking up strength from warm waters before losing strength over land.