[ad_1]
Issued on: Modified:
Johannesburg (AFP)
Former CAF Senior Vice President Kwesi Nyantakyi has been banned for life from soccer for breaking FIFA’s rules on bribery and corruption reduced to 15 years.
The lighter sentence was announced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after the Ghanaian banker and lawyer appealed against FIFA’s ruling.
An initial fine of $ 550,000 (465,000 euros) was reduced to $ 110,000, according to Ghanaian media reports.
Here, AFP Sport summarizes soccer news from across the continent:
Ghana
Nyantakyi resigned as number two the president of the CAF, Ahmad Ahmad, and the president of the Ghana Football Association, two years ago, after being caught in a media attack.
He was secretly filmed accepting a $ 65,000 bribe from journalists posing as businessmen who wanted to invest in Ghanaian football.
The official also agreed to a sponsorship deal created by the reporters, which would have seen millions of dollars designed for Ghanaian football diverted to a Nyantakyi company.
Egypt
Al Ahly’s new coach Pitso Mosimane has added three South African teammates to his staff, including assistant coach Cavin Johnson.
“Pitso likes to attack and I like to attack. Pitso likes to keep the ball on the ground and so do I,” said Johnson, who has been in charge of four teams in the South African Premiership.
Mosimane succeeded Rene Weiler two weeks ago when the Swiss could not agree on the conditions for the renewal of his contract with the record eight-time African champion.
Rwanda
French-born Saint-Etienne forward Kevin Monnet-Paguet could make his international debut next month at the age of 32 after being inducted into a provisional Rwandan squad.
He is eligible to play for the Wasps in the consecutive African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Cape Verde because his mother was born in Rwanda.
The former France Under-21 international has expressed interest in playing for the nation that ranks 36th in Africa and 132nd in the world.
Mali
Wolf winger Adama Traore came off the bench for Spain against Switzerland this weekend in the UEFA Nations League to officially end Mali’s hopes that he will choose to play for them.
The Barcelona-born attacker was also eligible to align himself with Mali as his parents were born in the West African country.
Mali included Traore in the squad for friendlies against Ghana and Iran, and also French-born Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure, who has yet to decide where his loyalty lies.
South Africa
South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns have signed 13 players on a spending spree before kicking off their 2020/2021 season next Sunday.
Among those moving to the Pretoria club are two constant scorers, Kermit Erasmus from Cape Town and Namibian Peter Shalulile from the now-defunct Highlands Park.
Sundowns completed a Premiership-FA Cup-League Cup treble with coach Pitso Mosimane, who has since moved to Al Ahly, the African and Egyptian powerhouses.
Ethiopia
Johannesburg-based broadcasters SuperSport have been granted exclusive rights to screen Ethiopian Premier League matches.
The multi-sport pay-per-view channel is available in all African countries, making it the dominant English-language sports broadcaster on the continent.
They also own the rights to the South African Premiership and the Zambian Premier League and previously broadcast matches from Ghana and Kenya.
Zimbabwe
Former Zimbabwe defender-midfielder Norman Mapeza returns to South Africa to coach new Premiership club Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM).
He spent a relatively successful six months with Chippa United last season before leaving after a fight with the club’s officials.
TTM will compete in top-notch soccer for the first time when the 2020/2021 season kicks off this Saturday after purchasing the dissolved Bidvest Wits franchise.
© 2020 AFP
