Cosafa and ZIFA president, Philip Chiyangwa, appears to have ruffled some feathers at The Confederation of African Football (CAF), as things heat up in the upcoming presidential elections.

CAF has warned Chiyangwa about convening a meeting of association presidents set for Harare in February. Chiyangwa says the purpose of the meeting is to celebrate his election as Cosafa president and his belated birthday party.

Cosafa publicly announced the backing of CAF presidential candidate Ahmad at the weekend and is understood to be rallying other African regions to back the Mauritius FA president as he takes on Issa Hayatou in the elections set for March.

Hayatou is seeking an 8th term and has been at the helm of African football since 1988.

However, CAF likely concerned about the growing threat has strongly warned Chiyangwa to desist from having unsanctioned meetings with presidents outside the COSAFA region.

In a letter to Chiyangwa from CAF, the Secretary General, Hichman El Amrani, stated:

“The CAF leadership has been informed that a meeting is convened by yourself in your capacity as COSAFA chairman, in Harare Zimbabwe on February 24th 2017, right after the FIFA executive Summit planned in Johannesburg on February 21st to 23rd 2017.

Such a meeting would not include only presidents of member associations of COSAFA but also presidents of many member associations outside the zonal union of COSAFA. The CAF leadership would like to remind you that you do not have the authority to convene such a meeting without CAF knowledge nor without its required approval.”

CAF further insisted Chiyangwa should respect the authority of CAF and not conduct any activities to undermine the common objectives of CAF, for the benefit of African football development.