Former Sports Minister Nii Lantey Vanderpauye has backed Anthony Baffoe to excel in his new role as Deputy General Secretary of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

According to Vanderpuye Baffoe’s appointment did not come as a surprise to him because the former defender deserves to be a key member of the continent's football governing body.

Baffoe, 52, was confirmed last week as Deputy General Secretary in-charge of Football and Development. He will work under newly installed General Secretary Amr Fahmy of Egypt. 

‘’The world of football is managed by people who know football.

''If you ask Tony Baffoe, I met him in Cape Coast last week before the Black Starts match, I discussed a lot with him and I think he will be surprised to do this because he will say I am a prophet.

I told him that I am seeing some big opportunities coming for him in the development of football in the world.'' Vanderpuye claimed in an interview with Joy Sports. 

‘’I even told him that it would not be out of place if I had the power to even choose the president of our football association; I will choose him,  I told him and he said “Honorable don’t go there” and I said “why not... Why not? Can’t you do it? So far where you’ve gotten to…”

''You see, what I like about Baffoe is that he doesn’t behave like some of us, the laissez-faire, as it is, because of his background he does his things according to principle and he is firm and he does things in a way that makes him achieve results he is looking for.

Baffoe has made tremendous progress since hanging up his boots and has undertaken several projects in world football.

Until his recent appointment, he was a FIFA General Co-ordinator and supervised several tournaments including the FIFA World Cup finals.

In 2014, he made history when he became the first black man to lead out two teams - Germany and Argentina - in a World Cup final in Brazil. 

Back home in Ghana, he is the brainchild of the FIFpro chapter known as the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana [PFAG].

Early this year, he was named a member of the Bundesliga Legends Network which includes nine ex-professionals Jiayi Shao and Jörg Albertz (China), Steven Cherundolo (USA), Pavel Pardo (Mexico), Wynton Rufer (Oceania ), Bum-Kun Cha (South Korea) and Paulo Sergio ( Brazil ).

Born in Germany, he was capped 25 times by Ghana between 1991 and 1994, and also captained the Black Stars for the final match of the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal against Cote d’Ivoire, which the latter won 11-10 on penalties.