Governing Bodies
ANOTHER TUNISIAN SET TO CHALLENGE AHMAD AS CAF PRESIDENT
Two candidates from Tunisia are now known to be jostling to head the Confederation of African Football, CAF when the next election holds next year March.
Apart from the current president, Ahmad of Madagascar, two Tunisians have joined the race. Last week, the FIFA Council member, Tarek Bouchamaoui of Tunisia has declared his intention.
He is now joined in the race by his compatriot, Wadie Jary the current head of Tunisia Football Federation.
His entry into the race may have dealt a blow on the earlier bid of Bouchamaoui as he appears to have the support of the Tunisian Federation, TFF.
According to insidethegame publication, TFF member, Hisham Benamran told the Tunisian radio station Express FM the national governing body would support Wadie Jary.
Candidates need to be nominated by at least three CAF nations to be eligible to stand for President, with the deadline for submissions falling on November 12.
Under CAF’s statutes, members of the African body can only nominate one candidate.
The CAF Presidential election is due to take place on March 12 in Rabat.
Madagascar’s incumbent President Ahmad, who goes by a single name, claimed earlier this year that he had not decided whether to run for a second term.
His first four-year stint at the helm of the CAF has been littered with controversy, including allegations of corruption and sexual misconduct.
The issues at the CAF prompted FIFA to effectively take over the running of the continental body last July, with Fatma Samoura installed as general delegate for Africa.
Samoura held the role for six months but next to no information on what FIFA uncovered has been released.
An independent audit of CAF accounts carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier this year revealed its records were “unreliable and not trustworthy”, although the CAF claimed the report contained “unfounded allegations”.
Jary, a former player, has been President of the TFF since 2012.
His stewardship of the TFF included Tunisia qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where they finished third in a group containing England, Belgium and Panama.
Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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