Ahmad, the head of the Madagascar Football Association (MFA), told Brillia FM that NFF President Amaju Pinnick "is a close ally and he supports my bid to head the CAF".

It represents another blow to Hayatou, who has led the CAF since 1988 and is seeking an eighth term at the helm of the governing body.

Ahmad believes he has enough support to topple the Cameroonian, who continues to suffer with health issues, at the Presidential election in Addis Ababa on March 16.

The MFA chief recently received the backing of the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA), who remain at loggerheads with the CAF.

The CAF accused COSAFA President Philip Chiyangwa in a letter written by secretary general Hicham El Amrani of trying to "destabilise" their organisation by holding a meeting with the heads of other African Football Associations in Harare on February 24 and claimed the gathering went against their statutes.

Chiyangwa, the President of the Zimbabwe Football Association, disputes this and insists it merely coincides with his birthday celebrations, which are set to be attended by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

The head of the COSAFA, which has 14-members, as hit back at the accusations made by El Amrani and demanded an apology from the CAF.

“I was taken aback, to say the least, by the tone of your letter and the clear insinuation that such an informal gathering of my family and friends, be they Presidents of Member Associations on the African continent, would be considered, outrightly, as an attempt to destabilise CAF,” Chiyangwa wrote.

“The informal gathering styled as ‘Dr Philip Chiyangwa birthday and COSAFA Presidency victory celebration’, is merely my belated birthday celebration, as I was born on February 3, 1959, and I also intend, on the same occasion, to celebrate my ascendancy to the COSAFA Presidency.

“This, in my view, does not violate any football statutes.

“In the circumstances, considering the clear misapprehension of my noble intentions by CAF, an apology is warranted for the inconvenience caused by the allegations arising from your letter.”

Infantino is due to travel to Harare from Addis Ababa, where world football's governing body are scheduled to hold two FIFA Executive Football Summits from February 21 to 23.

The Summits "bring together Member Association Presidents and general secretaries to discuss strategic matters and provide a platform for discussion, debate and an exchange of know-how", according to FIFA.

Hayatou has only been challenged on two previous occasions for the Presidency and prevailed each time, with the FIFA vice-president having won the last election in 2013 unopposed.

The Cameroonian served as interim FIFA President in 2015 before the election of Infantino as a permanent replacement for the disgraced Sepp Blatter.