Monrovia - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) has ruled that the Liberia Football Association's (LFA) appeal against the Confederation of African Football's (Caf) presidential election rule changes is not currently in their jurisdiction.

Cas was looking into appeals from the LFA against changes to Caf statutes, which take effect today.

LFA President Musa Bility had asked for interim verdicts to block the amendments until a full hearing is held.

But Cas said in a statement on Friday that it was unable to be involved at present because it recognized Caf's assertions that the body has its own internal appeals procedure, which must be followed first, and also that the amendments had not yet come into effect.

On September 3, Caf adopted controversial new rules that bar anyone outside the executive committee from contesting the presidency.

The amendments state that anyone seeking the presidency must be a voting member of the executive committee.

It means the likes of Jacques Anouma, one of Africa's representatives of Fifa, and South Africa's 2010 World Cup chief Danny Jordaan are ineligible to run for the continent's top football job.

“We cannot be living in the 21st century and trying to administrate football as though we were in the 18th century” Bility said.

Current incumbent Issa Hayatou, who has been in the role since 1987, is the sole candidate so far ahead of the elections, which will take place in March in Morocco.

Although 44 of 51 nations voted for the amendment to the rules, which was proposed by Algeria, Bility believes the result was driven by fear.

Bility believes the minimum 90 days notice that an amendment proposal of Caf statutes would be included as an item at the 3 September meeting of the extraordinary general assembly was ignored.

He wanted the amendment suspended "in order to avoid any legal risk on the validity of the election" and also wants a return to the Caf statutes as they were before the amendment.

But does this mean that Bility has lost his appeal? And what will be his next move remain the answered questions?

Meanwhile, Anouma has been nominated by the Ivory Coast Football Federation. The 60-year-old Ivorian would be submitted before the 9 December nomination deadline.

However, it is not yet clear whether he will be able to run after a rule change was overwhelmingly approved at a special Congress in Victoria, Seychelles.

Anouma is a member of Caf's executive committee only because he serves as one of the continent's representatives on the Fifa executive.

Although he attends Caf meetings, he does not have any voting rights. But in a series of recent media interviews, Anouma has said the amendments passed were not legal and has been seeking to challenge their validity.

Anouma, a former president of the Ivorian Football Federation, has long been touted as an alternative to Hayatou, who has been the head of African football since 1988.

Hayatou, from Cameroon, has twice before faced elections but kept his post easily with crushing wins. Despite recent medical problems, he has said he wants to serve another term until 2017.