Governing Bodies
FEAR OF POSSIBLE COMPROMISE LOOMS AHEAD OF WORLD CUP 2022 DRAW IN AFRICA
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
With a little over three weeks to the draw for the second round of the African qualifying series for the 2022 World Cup, palpable fears abound over possible deliberate favourable draw for the home countries of CAF Executive members.
The draw involving 40 teams is expected to be conducted at Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Cairo on 21 January 2020.
It will involve the 26 top ranked teams in the continent who are joined by the 14 winners of the first round that featured in the preliminary competition that spanned from September 4 to November 16, 2019.
According to the plans, the 40 countries will be drawn into 10 groups of four teams, leading to the third and final round where group winners will be drawn into five home and away ties.
The five winners will advance to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
But feelers obtained from different sources indicate that the secretariat, as well as the top three CAF Executive Committee members, is keen at obtaining favourable draw for their respective countries, leaving the remaining 36 countries jostling for just one ticket.
The indications are that President Ahmad’s Madagascar, along with Constant Omari’s DR Congo, Fouzi Lekjaa’s Morocco and Egypt, the secretariat of CAF will be favoured to qualify for the World Cup.
If the plan scales through, Madagascar, obvious underdogs among African football giants, will debut at the World Cup in Qatar as they did at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019.
DR Congo will be returning to the World Cup 48 years after their humiliating debut at West Germany 1974 where among other results, they were beaten 9-0 by Yugoslavia.
Egypt will feature in World Cup, which will be their first ever back-to-back appearance. Morocco will be attending the World Cup for the sixth time after their appearances in 1970, 1986, 1994, 1998 and 2018.
Other big teams, including Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal, Algeria among others will have to be chasing a ticket.
Sources informed Sports Village Square that the plan of reconstituting the CAF Referees Committee was informed by the clandestine moves to get the four mentioned teams easy passage to the World Cup.
But the plan appeared dead on arrival after it was smuggled into the agenda of the November 20, 2019 CAF Executive Committee meeting.
The original intention was to remove Souleyman Waberi of Djibouti from his position as the chairman of CAF’s Referees’ Commission. The plan was aborted, as it did not meet the statutory deadline for inclusion into the agenda.
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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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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