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A scandal of corruption and a decision to hand over control of the body to FIFA are likely to spark lively debate when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) hold its congress in Cairo on Thursday.
PHOTO FILE: President of the African Football Confederation (CAF), Ahmad Ahmad, speaking in front of the press at the presidential palace in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on January 29, 2019. REUTERS / Thierry Gouegnon
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CAIRO: A corruption scandal and a decision to hand over control of the organ to FIFA are likely to spark lively debate when the African Football Confederation (CAF) holds its congress in Cairo on Thursday.
This is the first meeting of the 54 CAF member badociations since allegations of fraud and badual harbadment were made against CAF President Ahmad Ahmad in April.
Ahmad, a former government minister from his home country, Madagascar, was reported in March to the FIFA Ethics Committee by CAF Secretary General Amr Fahmy, who was subsequently fired.
New allegations of fraud have recently been brought against Ahmad, who was arrested and questioned by the French authorities in June as part of a corruption investigation.
Ahmad denied having committed wrongdoing in several media interviews, but did not respond to Reuters' repeated requests to comment on the charges against him.
FIFA took over from CAF following allegations of corruption, following an unprecedented decision by the executive committee of the African body to give up control.
Some critics of Ahmad saw in this decision an attempt to stay in power, even if it made him more scrupulous when auditing the finances of the CAF.
The handover has proved unpopular with some member badociations.
They do not like the idea that African football is run by foreigners even if FIFA sends to its Senegalese secretary general, Fatma Samoura, a detachment for the ninth month of August from the month of August, to reorganize the organization.
Traditionally, CAF conventions are docile, where decisions made by the president are then approved by members, but Thursday's meeting should be a break from the norm.
"This week will define African football. All these nonsense must stop, "said Reuters one of the presidents of a football badociation, who did not want to be named.
The opposition to Ahmad remains largely tempered and comes from anonymous sources and no challenge is expected from him.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who is scheduled to attend, will be the subject of much attention.
FIFA has confirmed the opening of an investigation into the ethics of Mr. Ahmad, also vice-president of FIFA, because of his role at CAF.
(Report by Mark Gleeson, edited by Toby Davis)
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