Governing Bodies
FIFA BOSS, INFANTINO TAKES HIS FORMER BOSSES; BLATTER, PLATINI TO COURT!
FIFA under Gianni Infantino is set to take legal action against former President Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini in a bid to recoup the CHF2 million (£1.5 million/$2 million/€1.8 million) paid to the ex-UEFA head in 2011.
Infantino was General Secretary of UEFA during Platini’s presidency of the confederation. By extension, he was also answerable to FIFA under Sepp Blatter.
Now, he has axe to grind with his former bosses.In a statement, FIFA confirmed it had filed claims in the relevant Swiss courts against the two officials “seeking restitution of the CHF 2 million unduly paid to Mr Platini back in February 2011”.
FIFA’s Governance Committee passed a resolution last month that the organisation should pursue recovering the funds, which have not been repaid.
The payment led to Blatter and Platini being banned from football for eight years, reduced on appeal to six and four years, respectively.
Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years before he resigned days after being re-elected in May 2015, and Platini – touted as the successor to the Swiss before he was banned – both claim the payment was made under an oral agreement for work the Frenchman carried out for Blatter between 1998 and 2002.
FIFA’s Ethics Committee dismissed this argument and said it was a “gift” or “undue payment”, a ruling upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
In its decision in Platini’s case, the three CAS judges said they were “not convinced by the legitimacy” of the payment.
Former France international Platini, who served as UEFA President from 2007 to 2015, is able to work again in the sport after his ban expired in October.
But the 64-year-old will first have to pay a fine of CHF60,000 (£46,000/$61,000/€55,000) if he is to return to any role in football.
Blatter, who quit as FIFA President amid an unprecedented corruptions scandal at the worldwide body, is still serving his six-year ban, which expires in October 2021.
A criminal investigation into the payment continues, although no charges have yet bee brought by Swiss prosecutors.
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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