Governing Bodies
CAF set to break even after ‘toxic’ past
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/motsepe-1.png)
The Confederation of African Football will be debt free next year as a result of improved governance since Patrice Motsepe became president of a “toxic” body in 2021, says its secretary general Veron Mosengo-Omba.
Installed as deputy just days after the South African billionaire was appointed president, Mosengo-Omba says Caf’s level of debt when the pair took over was about $40m (£31m).
He says this figure has more than halved since, with the tally set to drop even further when Caf’s financial accounts are presented later this year.
“I think we will present a [deficit] figure to the Caf congress of less than $12m (£9.3m),” Mosengo-Omba told BBC Sport Africa.
“For the next fiscal year, [the debt] will be zero.”
The Caf financial year runs from the start of July to the end of June, with accounts traditionally presented to congress in October, meaning the organisation could be debt-free in just under 12 months’ time.
Mosengo-Omba, who hails from DR Congo but who also holds Swiss nationality, says that credit for the turnaround must go to his 62-year-old boss.
“Motsepe and his executive coming in was, for me, a gift for African football,” said the lawyer, who worked as Fifa’s chief member associations officer before joining Cairo-based Caf.
“In 2021, Caf was a toxic company – nobody trusted Caf. When Motsepe came, he put the principle of good governance and integrity in all levels of the organisation.
“This brings confidence to our partners.”
One of Africa’s richest men, with a fortune estimated at $3.1bn, external (£2.4b) by Forbes, Motsepe replaced the previous administration led by Madagascar’s Ahmad.
Elected president in 2017 when he dethroned long-standing Caf president Issa Hayatou, Ahmad’s tenure was blighted by scandal, with the Malagasy – who denies wrongdoing – banned for two years by Fifa for breaking its ethics codes, including ‘misappropriation of funds’.
The Hayatou administration maintains that it left over $100m (£77.4m) in reserves when it departed, with the funds declining vastly under Ahmad, whose regime increased salaries, cut Caf’s biggest-ever broadcast deal before then suffering some Covid-enforced losses.
Under Motsepe meanwhile, the number of sponsors of Caf’s flagship Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) competition has risen from 10 for the 2021 finals in Cameroon to 17 for the 2023 edition, which was played in January this year.
It also gained a global television audience of 1.1 billion, with double that tally – 2.2 billion – accessing the tournament’s digital content.
“In Cameroon we generated about $4-5 million (£3-4m) profit. In Ivory Coast the profit was more than $75 million (£58m). This shows we are [going] in a good direction and for Morocco, the next edition, I think [the profit] will be increased by 50%,” said Mosengo-Omba.
Most of this increase is coming from sponsors and television rights, with the secretary general also declaring himself “very happy” that Caf generated $14m (£10.8m) after taking ticketing and hospitality in-house for the first time.
Despite recent comments by Afcon-winning Ivory Coast coach Emerse Fae, Mosengo-Omba dispelled suggestions that the tournament could become a four-yearly affair by reiterating the fact that the governing body’s greatest income comes every two years from the finals, which next kick off in December 2025.
“The periodicity of Afcon is not on the table,” he said. “We need the money from Afcon every two years to run football in Africa.”
Mosengo-Omba also sought to strongly defend Caf’s approach to dealing with allegations of corruption against some of its senior administrators, insisting it is “not protecting crooks”.
Malian federation president Mamatou Toure is currently on trial for embezzling public funds in the West African country, while counterpart Wadie Jary is facing corruption charges in Tunisia.
Both men, who have denied the charges after their detentions last year, remain both in prison and members of Caf’s executive committee.
Pressed on why neither has been suspended, Mosengo-Omba said the organisation could only take action once court cases are settled in their respective countries.
“We suspend [people] provisionally if we are investigating the case ourselves,” he added.
“We respect the sovereignty of each country. When we have the verdict of the court, we’ll take a decision. Nobody is above the law in Caf – no-one.”
In May, Toure – a member of the Fifa council – reportedly dialled into a Fifa meeting from his prison cell in the Malian capital Bamako.
“If Messrs Toure and Jary committed crime according to the respective regulations of each country, take them to court,” the Swiss-Congolese said.
“How can Caf intervene in the situation?”
-BBC
Governing Bodies
African football set to benefit from newly launched CAF VAR Academy Programme
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/var-academy.webp)
The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) is launching the CAF Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Academy for the 54 CAF Member Associations – a move that is aimed at elevating the standard of officiating in Africa.
Following CAF’s recent hosting of the most successful Africa Cup of Nations that saw the quality of officiating being singled out, CAF is building onto this success with the innovative academy set to be rolled out between September and October 2024.
The CAF VAR Academy will train Elite Referees across the continent for international competitions and national championships on the use of VAR and ensure that Africa continues to produce elite referees, as seen in recent times.
CAF Technical Development Director, Raul Chipenda said the VAR Academy Programme is a practical step by CAF to improve the standard of match officiating in Africa and ensure that African referees are equipped to compete against the best in the world.
“In the last few months, CAF has had a strong bias in upskilling match officials on the usage of VAR that is why at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, our officials were rated amongst the best. But it does not help having a small group, we need a big pool.
“Officiating plays a critical role in the development of African football, as evidently seen in the success of the recent AFCON. CAF actively oversees and supports a number of football development programmes and competitions across Africa and with that said, it is equally vital that match officials across Africa are adequately equipped with the latest officiating technology, means and education in order to remain on par with the existing pool of officials on the continent”, said Chipenda.
The CAF VAR Academy, which will be attended by elite referees across CAF’s 54 Member Associations will also be the first step in introducing VAR across the continent.
As part of its roll out programme, CAF will be embarking on a continental drive of conducting CAF VAR Academy workshops across its Zonal Unions in the next few months where 180 referees are expected to be reached.
CAF VAR ACADEMY 2024 WORKSHOP DATES:
ZONAL UNION DATE HOST NATION WAFU B 01 – 08 September Cote d’Ivoire COSAFA 11 – 19 September South Africa UNAF 22 – 27 September Egypt CECAFA 30 September – 05 October Tanzania WAFU A 12 – 17 October Senegal
-CAF
Governing Bodies
Nigeria Football Federation clocks 91 today, but they don’t believe in their age
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/gusau-and-NFF-logo.png)
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria football governing body, the NFF is 91 years today and just nine years to clock a century. Unfortunately, the body does not believe in its age, but hold on to a faulty belief that it is 79 years old, but with no actual birthday.
Founded 1945 is gleefully displayed on the crest of the NFF. Yet, it is not possible to pin point which date in 1945 the body was founded in 1945. Sports Village Square’s research unveils documented as well as verifiable evidences that what is today’s NFF was founded in Lagos as NFA on 21 August 1933.
No official of the NFF has come forward to defend their claim of the body being ‘founded in 1945’.
Their assumption emanates from the fact that the national cup competition, now called President Federation Cup, began in 1945 as ‘Governor’s Cup’.
This itself is a distortion of historical fact on Nigerian football as the first three editions of the competition was not even organised by the then NFA but by the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is now Lagos Football Association.
Verified archival materials have confirmed that the Nigerian football governing body was founded on Monday 21 August 1933 at house number 42, Broad Street Lagos. The building still exist, even with the same address.
Also, all the facts on the actual foundation date of the football governing body still exist and verifiable at the Nigeria National Archives at the University of Ibadan and also at The FA offices in London.
Despite overwhelming and documented evidences, it has been very hard, if not impossible, to get official recognition for the foundation date of the NFF.
The foundation meeting was held that day at the 42 Broad Street, in Lagos. The building which still exists today was then known as Health Office.
The founding officials were: Henry A. Porter as President while three Vice Presidents were appointed.
They were: Frederick Baron Mulford, Sir Adeyemo Alakija and Dr. Isaac Oluwole. The Secretary/Treasurer was James Mead who worked at UAC in Lagos.
The report of the foundation was published in the 25 August 1933 edition of the Daily Times.
Their first Annual General Meeting, as reported by the Daily Times of February 22 1934, took place in Lagos on Monday 19 February 1934.
The meeting decided to seek affiliation with The FA in England. A check by the Sports Village Square at the offices of The FA in London was very revealing. The minutes of meeting of The FA on 4 June 1934 shows under item 10 that: “The Nigeria Football Association was admitted to membership under Rule 5 of the Rules of Association.”
The affiliation was also reported in the Nigerian Daily Times edition of 14 September 1934. Reputable FA in England could not have registered a non-existing body.
The various regimes of the NFA/NFF since 2003 have found it difficult to accept and effect the actual foundation date of the body. They are more concerned about a perceived global backlash they could receive for just realising the actual birth date of the Nigerian football governing body.
Regarding the assumption that the national competition started in 1945 and linking that to the foundation of the football governing body is an assumption based on fallacy.
Documented evidences discovered by Sports Village Square point to the fact that the Governor’s Cup was not a product of the then NFA but that of the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is today known as the Lagos FA, the oldest football association in Nigeria having been established in 1932 by Henry A. Potter, the same man who founded the NFA the following year.
One day, it shall come to pass when the true foundation date will be acknowledged.
Governing Bodies
CAF’s sole surviving former president, Ahmad attending Hayatou’s funeral
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ahmad.jpg)
There have been seven presidents of CAF since the continental body was created in 1957. Of the six former heads of the confederation, only Ahmad of Madagascar is alive.
As the sixth and just one-term president, Ahmad who recently completed his reduced ban of two years by FIFA/CAS is one of the dignitaries attending the funeral of Issa Hayatou in Cameroon this Friday.
Arrival of Issa Hayatou’s body from France
Funeral service for Hayatou at the Yaounde airport when the body arrived from Paris on Thursday
Long-time friend, Constant Omari arriving Yaounde for Hayatou’s funeral
Apart from other football chiefs – FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his CAF counterpart, Patrice Motsepe, also in attendance is Congolese Constant Omari who had been a long term ally of Hayatou.
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