Former Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) President Isha Johansen has lost her bid for re-election to the FIFA Council following a highly contested vote at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Extraordinary General Assembly in Cairo, Egypt, on 12 March 2025.
Johansen was defeated in the race for the female quota seat by Comoros’ Kanizat Ibrahim, CAF’s fifth vice president. Also vying for the position was Burundi’s Lydia Nsekera, a former FIFA Council member and International Olympic Committee (IOC) representative, but she did not secure enough votes.
The election results underscored the growing influence of French- and Arabic-speaking nations in African and global football governance, as all six successful candidates hailed from those regions. Among them, Egypt’s Hany Abo Rida and Morocco’s Fouzi Lekjaa retained their seats on FIFA’s highest decision-making body, while Niger’s Djibrilla Hamidou, Djibouti’s Souleiman Waberi, Mauritania’s Ahmed Yahya, and Comoros’ Kanizat Ibrahim secured new positions. This outcome saw English-speaking representatives, including Johansen and Nigeria’s Amaju Pinnick, lose their seats.
Lekjaa and Rida, both prominent figures in African football, secured re-election with 49 and 35 votes, respectively. Hamidou, a former footballer turned administrator from Niger, won a seat with 35 votes, while Waberi and Yahya each garnered 29 votes. Ibrahim emerged victorious in the women’s quota category, replacing Johansen.
Nigeria’s Amaju Pinnick, an ally of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, fell short in his re-election bid after securing 28 votes, just below Yahya and Waberi. Meanwhile, Benin’s Mathurin de Chacus withdrew from the race at the last minute, and Mali’s Mamoutou Touré, an outgoing FIFA Council member, did not contest after facing legal troubles, including an ongoing corruption investigation that led to his imprisonment.
Johansen’s loss marks the end of her tenure as one of Africa’s most influential female voices in global football governance. It remains uncertain what her next steps will be as the SLFA prepares for its executive committee elections later this year.
