Governing Bodies
Malian Football Federation elects a president in prison
FIFA Council member Mamoutou Touré has been re-elected unopposed as Malian Football Federation (Femafoot) President, despite being detained on charges of embezzling public funds, after three other candidates were deemed ineligible to stand.
Touré, also known as Bavieux, has been jailed awaiting trial after being accused of infringing public state property and forgery between 2013 and 2019 during his time as a financial and administrative director in the Malian National Assembly.
He and four others are alleged to have embezzled $28 million (£22 million/€26 million) in state funds.
All deny the charges.
Mamoutou Touré received 61 of the 63 votes at the Femafoot Extraordinary General Assembly after he was the only one of the four candidates who passed an eligibility test ©Femafoot
Despite the ongoing case, Touré was the only one of the four candidates who passed an eligibility test.
Former Femafoot spokesperson Salaha Baby was initially cleared to stand, but an appeal from Touré against this was upheld which allowed him to secure unopposed re-election with 61 votes from 63 cast at the International Conference Centre of Bamako.
There was one abstention and one vote against Touré.
Touré was first elected as Femafoot President in 2019, and his fresh four-year term runs through to 2027.
Mali’s Sports Minister Abdoul Kassim Ibrahim Fomba had written to outgoing FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura of Senegal earlier this month expressing concern over the electoral process.
Observers from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA attended the Extraordinary General Assembly to oversee the elections.
Observers from the CAF and FIFA attended the Femafoot Extraordinary General Assembly in Bamako ©Femafoot
The 66-year-old Touré is also a member of the CAF Executive Committee and FIFA Council.
FIFA Council membership provides an annual salary of $250,000 (£198,000/€230,000) plus expenses.
The BBC has reported an audit of Femafoot’s finances of 2022 by the Pyramis group showed the national governing body did not pay any taxes to the Malian state from deductions from staff salaries, nearly $50,000 (£39,600/€46,000) was awarded to “other parties” without a reason or approval from the Femafoot Board, and no financial report has been provided to the Femafoot General Assembly for the last three years.
Femafoot claimed Touré’s plans for his renewed four-year term include construction of infrastructure, reorganising local competitions and upgrading subsidies to local football bodies under its umbrella.
insidethegames has asked FIFA for a comment on Touré re-election.
Femafoot was suspended for six weeks by FIFA in 2017 for Government interference.
Mali has never qualified for the men’s or Women’s World Cup.
It is set to compete in the men’s Olympic football tournament at Paris 2024 for the first time since Athens 2004 after finishing third at the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations.
Following Touré’s arrest, Femafoot insisted “the presumption of innocence which must at all times benefit any accused person” should apply and claimed it had been “fuelled by his opponents”.
A military council led by Colonel Assimi Goïta seized power in Mali in August 2020, and he has served as Interim President since May 2021.
There are concerns over a lack of opposition in Mali and widespread jihadist insurgency in the north and east of the country.
-insidethegames
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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