African football chief, Ahmad Ahmad has been banned from all football-related activities at both national and international levels for the next five years.
This is after an investigation by world football governing body – Fifa – found him guilty of multiple breaches following allegations from several quarters over the past few years.
A Fifa statement cited the Malagasy as charged for misappropriation of funds by using Caf money to finance an Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca for 15 heads of national federations which included Kwesi Nyantakyi – the erstwhile GFA President who had to cut short that pilgrimage to face Ghana Police CID after he was cited in the famous Anas exposé in June 2018.
Mr Ahmad has been also slapped with a fine of CHF 200,000 ($220,000) for his many troubles cited in the Fifa statement below:
“The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has found Ahmad Ahmad, the President of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and a Fifa Vice-President, guilty of having breached art. 15 (Duty of loyalty), art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts or other benefits) and art. 25 (Abuse of position) of the 2020 edition of the Fifa Code of Ethics, as well as art. 28 (Misappropriation of funds) of the 2018 edition.
“The investigation into Mr Ahmad’s conduct in his position as Caf President during the period from 2017 to 2019 concerned various Caf-related governance issues, including the organization and financing of an Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca, his involvement in Caf’s dealings with the sports equipment company Tactical Steel and other activities.
“In its decision, following an extensive hearing, the adjudicatory chamber ruled that, based on information gathered by the investigatory chamber, Mr Ahmad had breached his duty of loyalty, offered gifts and other benefits, mismanaged funds and abused his position as the Caf President, pursuant to the Fifa Code of Ethics.
“Consequently, the adjudicatory chamber found that Mr Ahmad had breached arts 15, 20 and 25 of the current edition of the Fifa Code of Ethics, as well as art. 28 of the 2018 edition, and sanctioned him with a ban from all football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level for five years. In addition, a fine in the amount of CHF 200,000 has been imposed on Mr Ahmad.
“The terms of the decision were notified to Mr Ahmad today, the date on which the ban comes into force. In accordance with art. 78 par. 2 of the Fifa Code of Ethics, the full, motivated decision will be notified to Mr Ahmad in the next 60 days, after which it will be published on legal.fifa.com.”
Re-election bid in tatters
Ahmad was elected Caf President in 2017 in a major coup that saw long-serving Cameroonian Issa Hayatou kicked out of office after 29 years.
His re-election campaign now lies in tatters as a result of this ban.
Four personalities – Jacques Anouma (Côte d’Ivoire), Patrice Motsepe (South Africa), Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania) and Senegal’s Augustine Senghor – have so far declared interest in running for the Caf Presidency.
The upcoming Caf election is scheduled for March 12, 2021, in Rabat, Morocco.
