African football paid $50-million in an out of court settlement to former marketing company Lagardere Sports after abruptly cancelling their long-term agreement, the Confederation of African Football’s congress was told on Tuesday.

The French company had sued for compensation after their 10-year, $1-billion agreement was abruptly cancelled in 2019.

Lagardere Sports held the marketing, sponsorship and television rights to all CAF competitions for two decades, but CAF said it had to cancel the deal after two court rulings found that the agreement was made without proper tender.

The company, now known as Lagardere Unlimited, sued for compensation before accepting a settlement, with CAF paying in two equal tranches, the last of which was paid at the end of last year, CAF’s finance committee vice chairman Andrew Kamanga said.

CAF president Patrice Motsepe told congress the organisation had made a $72-million profit from this year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast, significantly increased from a $4-million profit for the 2021 finals in Cameroon.

CAF said it projected a revenue of almost $150 million for the 2024-2025 financial year, with expenses of $138.2 million.

Some 30% of the budget would be spent on development programmes and contributions to CAF’s 54-member associations.

A proposal was approved to give each association president an annual salary of $50,000 from the $400,000 annual contribution.

Motsepe, expected to stand for re-election next year, said CAF wanted to increase African football’s revenue to $1-billion over the next eight years. “We are having a lot of discussions with potential sponsors,” he told the congress in the Ethiopian capital.

He said CAF wanted to give $1-million annually to each member association from 2026.

Motsepe also said CAF were reviewing rules on the treatment of visiting teams in the wake of Nigeria’s national team being held at a Libyan airport for a half day before last week’s scheduled Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

Nigeria refused to play the game after saying they had been held hostage by Libyan authorities who diverted their charter plane to an unused airfield and then left them waiting.

“National teams must be treated with respect. If there are violations, we’ll take action,” said Motsepe.

-Reuters

A group of over 100 professional women’s soccer players on Monday sent an open letter to FIFA urging the world governing body to end its partnership with oil and gas conglomerate Saudi Aramco.

In April, FIFA signed a four-year deal that will see Aramco become a worldwide partner, including in major tournaments such as the 2026 World Cup and the Women’s World Cup the following year.

Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sports like soccer, Formula One and golf in the last few years while critics, including women’s rights groups and members of the LGBTQ community, accuse the kingdom of using its Public Investment Fund (PIF) to “sportswash” its human rights record.

The country denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws.

Manchester City striker Vivianne Miedema, Canada captain Jessie Fleming and ex-United States skipper Becky Sauerbrunn were among the players to sign the letter.

“We urge FIFA to reconsider this partnership and replace Saudi Aramco with alternative sponsors whose values align with gender equality, human rights and the safe future of our planet,” the players said in the letter.

They also proposed setting up a review committee with player representation to evaluate the ethical implications of future sponsorship deals.

FIFA pointed to the impact of sponsorship revenues on investment in the women’s game.

“FIFA values its partnership with Aramco and its many others commercial and rights partners,” a spokesperson for FIFA said.

“FIFA is an inclusive organisation with many commercial partners also supporting other organisations in football and other sports.

“Sponsorship revenues generated by FIFA are reinvested back into the game at all levels and investment in women’s football continues to increase, including for the historic FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup and its groundbreaking new distribution model.”

A representative for Aramco said they would respond to the letter at the earliest opportunity.

-Reuters

The Confédération Africaine de Football (“CAF”) will hold its Executive Committee (“EXCO”) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday, 21 October 2024.

The Executive Committee meeting, to be chaired by CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe, will start at 10h30 local time (07h30 GMT).

The meeting will be held ahead of the 46^th Ordinary General Assembly which will also take place in the Ethiopian capital on Tuesday, 22 October 2024 at 10h00 local time (07h00 GMT).