Governing Bodies
CAF set to break even after ‘toxic’ past
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
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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