FIFA bans Africa’s football president Ahmad for five years

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT | The world football governing body, FIFA has today slapped a five year ban on Ahmad Ahmad, President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) over abuse of office and financial misconduct.

Ahmad, aged 60 years and elected CAF president in 2017, has also been fined 200,00 Swiss Francs, about Uganda shillings 813 million.

The decision was made by FIFA’s adjudicatory chamber of the Independent Ethics Committee and announced today. The chamber noted that Ahmad, who hails from Madagascar, breached four provisions of the Code of Ethics including duty of loyalty, abuse of position, offering gifts and other benefits and misappropriation of funds between 2017 and 2019.

For instance, the chamber noted that it appeared that CAF paid 100,000 US Dollars for 18 people including Ahmad and some heads of African national football federations to go for a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

As a result, Ahmad is implicated in the organisation and financing of an Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca and also getting involved in CAF’s dealings with TacticalSteel, a sports equipment company.

The chamber has now banned him from taking part in any football related activities including administration. The ban however comes at a time when Ahmad had announced his re-election bid as CAF President. In 2017, Ahmad defeated Issa Hayatou who had served as CAF President for 29 years.

CAF executive assembly will meet on March 12th, 2021 to elect it’s new leaders. For now, Constant Omari, CAF vice president and also president of the DR Congo Football body, will serve as the interim CAF President.

********

URN