Last week saw the election of Djahid Zefizef as the new president of the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) and this week the FAF announced a new sponsor following an agreement with state-owned oil company Sonatrach. The terms have yet to be announced but Algerian publication La Gazette du Fennec reports that the deal is close to being confirmed and will be an important boost to a federation that lost a substantial amount of money due to Algeria’s failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup among other factors.
The 59-year-old Zefizef has a background of having served in Algeria’s private sector following a spell in the military and succeeds Charaf-Eddine Amara as president of the FAF. Zefizef defeated former Algeria national team player Abdelhakim Serrar, collecting 52 votes while his opponent gathered 34. FIFA president Gianni Infantino sent a letter congratulating Zefizef for winning the presidency this week and stated that he and FIFA are open to discussions about how to better Algerian football.
