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FIFA banned the top African soccer official from the sport for five years on Monday, disrupting the leadership of one of its six regional confederations just months before the presidential election and providing a new reminder that corruption continues to plague the world. world football even in its highest category. levels.
The punishment of the official, Ahmad Ahmad, who had been president of the African Football Confederation and vice president of FIFA since 2017, was related to his conduct from 2017 to 2019, according to a statement issued by the FIFA ethics body. Ahmad was convicted of violating four separate articles of the organization’s code of ethics, according to his statement, including abuse of power, embezzlement, and rules regarding the offering and accepting of gifts.
His ban will disqualify him from running for a new term early next year, but Ahmad escaped with a shorter ban than another African official who was deemed to have violated one of the same rules.
The decision was announced more than a year after FIFA received allegations of wrongdoing from Ahmad, and 17 months after French investigators arrested and questioned him on corruption allegations related to a clothing contract. In its statement, FIFA said that part of its investigation into Ahmad’s conduct in office was related to that agreement. The ethics researchers also analyzed the financing of a pilgrimage trip for several African officials to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Ahmad’s ban means that five of FIFA’s six global confederations have had to replace leaders accused of ethical violations since 2015, when an indictment from the United States Department of Justice revealed widespread corruption in the Americas and the Caribbean. . FIFA President Gianni Infantino came to power a year later and vowed to rid the organization of the culture of corruption that had tarnished its image and brought down its predecessor.
Ahmad had been one of the new generation of leaders to come in the wake of the scandals. Backed by Infantino, who spent significant political capital lobbying on behalf of the then little-known politician from soccer backwater Madagascar, Ahmad overthrew Issa Hayatou, a prominent African soccer figure who had ruled the sport on the continent. , and was highly influential as a top FIFA executive – for more than two decades.
But under Ahmad’s leadership, CAF soon plunged into regular episodes of chaos and infighting. The problems peaked in 2019, when Ahmad fired the organization’s highest-ranking administrator, General Secretary Amr Fahmy, and other top executives. Fahmy, who died of cancer earlier this year, was among the officials who had provided FIFA with evidence against Ahmad; the accusations included not only economic crimes, but also allegations of sexual harassment by female workers and consultants.
Ahmad called the allegations an effort to tarnish his reputation and later denied any wrongdoing in the French corruption investigation.
Ahmad did not respond to a request for comment on his ban, which he can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He is currently on medical leave after contracting the coronavirus.
Ahmad’s departure leaves four candidates to replace him when CAF holds its presidential elections on March 12. Until then, the organization will be led by its senior vice president, Congo’s Constant Omari, who faces his own ethics probe over a television deal that he and Ahmad reviewed in a way that appeared to have benefited CAF’s broadcast partners at a cost. of millions of dollars for African football.
Ahmad is also involved in that investigation and could face further sanctions as a result. In addition to his five-year suspension, FIFA also fined Ahmed some $ 220,000.
Ethics investigators at FIFA are also investigating the conduct of other African officials. The leaked emails and documents have shown how some regional soccer leaders sought to receive payments from CAF to be transferred to their private bank accounts rather than through their federations, and an audit completed earlier this year failed to account for million dollars in development funds.
The 55-page report, completed by PWC consultants, said “potential elements of mismanagement and possible abuse of power were found in key areas of finance and operations.” It provided yet another reminder of the challenges of reforming the governance of world soccer, which was shaken in 2015 when the United States brought a widespread indictment that laid out in vivid detail allegations of decades of corruption and crimes committed by some of the sport’s most important administrators. .
As the leadership crisis in Africa worsened last year, FIFA took the extraordinary step of effectively and temporarily taking over the management of CAF. It sent Fatma Samoura, its general secretary and Infantino’s chief deputy, to oversee the organization’s operations at its headquarters in Cairo. That relationship ended abruptly in February, when CAF management chose not to extend FIFA’s presence.
For Infantino, the ban on Ahmad, his longtime ally, is shameful, but it also presents an opportunity to find a new and reliable partner in Africa, a region he has been aggressively trying to farm.
In addition to sending Samoura to CAF, he also sent Mario Galavotti, one of his most trusted advisers, to help restructure operations and chart a path for further development. Last December, Infantino floated the idea of a new 20-team pan-African club tournament that he said could generate up to $ 200 million in annual revenue, a sum that he said could allow some of the best clubs in Africa keep the best talents in the market. region. Those plans appear to have stalled since the CAF told FIFA emissaries to leave and the coronavirus brought world sports to a standstill.
