Governing Bodies
Algeria’s Berraf re-elected as President of ANOCA
Algeria’s Mustapha Berraf has been re-elected as President of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) after defeating challenger Lydia Nsekera in today’s election at the organisation’s General Assembly in Cairo.
Berraf, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member who became President in 2018, will serve a second four-year term.
He was re-elected with 38 votes as Burundi’s Nsekera tallied 15.
Both candidates stood for the position in 2018 too, which ended with Berraf winning by 34 votes to 20.
The Algerian succeeded long-serving Ivorian President Lassana Palenfo, who spent 13 years at the helm and was first elected in 2005.
Nsekera announced her intention to run again on March 31, vowing to “restore the image” of ANOCA and suggesting the governing body needed a “different approach”.
The Burundi National Olympic Committee President ran on a campaign promising transparency and good governance, something she was critical of in the current regime.
On the eve of the election, Nsekera accused the 67-year-old Berraf of breaching the organisation’s ethics rules.
She claimed her rival had attempted to “discredit” her and had used “unacceptable” tactics to try to “gain the sympathy of voting members”.
This was communicated to the chairman and members of the ANOCA Ethics Commission and seen by insidethegames.
“The ANOCA Ethics Commission provided us clear guidelines for the management of our campaign,” wrote Nsekera.
“However, everyone of us has observed for some time how President Mustapha Berraf has multiplied last minute activities during a campaign period, which according to the rules should not be condoned.
“First of all, President Berraf decided to publish the strategic plan developed by representatives of our NOCs [National Olympic Committees] for the next quadrennial as his campaign document.
“As managers, we all know that such a document will be implemented by the team that will be elected on May 25.
“President Berraf further gave an interview published by RFI on April 18 in which I read an attempt to discredit my person.
“We are in a democracy, and when things are not working as they should, especially when the reputation of our Institution is threatened, dragged through the mud for now two years because of its leaders, as responsible men and women, it is our duty to stand up and demand change.
“None of us wants to continue to see ANOCA ridiculed in public like is presently the case.”
Berraf’s IOC membership is pegged to his role as ANOCA President.
He resigned as Algerian Olympic Committee President in May 2020 after saying he was “tired” of the “repeated attacks” against him and his family.
This followed allegations of corruption which he denied.
Sudan’s Ahmed Hashim was re-elected as the general secretary of ANOCA, defeating Seydina Omar Diagne of Senegal by 29 votes to 24.
Sao Tome and Principe’s Joao Da Costa Alegre Afonso and Lesotho’s Matlohang Moiloa Ramoqopo were elected as first and second vice-presidents respectively unopposed.
Kamal Lahlou of Morocco was elected as third vice-president ahead of Negroes Kgosietsile of Botswana and Julien Minavoa of Benin.
After Minavoa was eliminated after the first round of voting, Lahlou won 27 to Kgosietsile’s 25 votes.
Fardouza Egueh of Djibouti was elected as fourth vice-president unopposed.
Nigeria’s Habu Gumel was elected by a clear majority as ANOCA treasurer in a head-to-head with Togo’s Akpaki Kodjo Ogouwa, winning 43 to their opponent’s 10.
-insidethegames
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
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and France soccer great Michel Platini were both cleared of corruption charges by a Swiss court on Tuesday, two and a half years after they were first acquitted of the offences.
The pair, once among the most powerful figures in global soccer, were cleared of fraud at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in the town of Muttenz, near Basel.
The hearing came about after Swiss federal prosecutors appealed against their 2022 acquittal at a lower court.
Both men had denied the charge which related to a 2 million Swiss franc ($2.26 million) payment Blatter authorised for Platini in 2011.
The court said there were doubts about the prosecution’s allegation the payment for Platini, a former captain and manager of the French national team, was fraudulent.
The 2022 indictment had accused Blatter and Platini of deceiving FIFA staff in 2010 and 2011 about an obligation for world soccer’s ruling body to pay Platini.
“They falsely claimed that FIFA owed Platini, or that Platini was entitled to, the sum of 2 million Swiss francs for advisory work. This deception was achieved through repeated untruthful claims made by both accused parties,” the indictment said.
But the court cleared the pair, saying their account of an oral agreement for the payment could not be ruled out.
Platini had argued that the payment had been partly deferred until 2011 because FIFA lacked the funds to pay him in full immediately.
The court said the pair had both been consistent in their accounts of the payment, which covered consultancy work carried out by Platini for Blatter between 1998 and 2002.
Platini’s experience as a top footballer and coach, explained the size of the payment, said the court, which followed the legal principle that in cases of doubt, favour the accused.
“It can not be assumed that the defendants acted with the intention of enriching themselves in the sense of the charged offences,” the court said.
The scandal, which emerged in 2015 when Platini was president of European soccer’s ruling body UEFA, ended his hopes of succeeding Blatter, who was forced out of FIFA over the affair.
Blatter and Platini were suspended from football in 2015 by FIFA for ethics breaches, originally for eight years, although their exclusions were later reduced.
Platini said he was relieved the case was over, and he had received messages of support from 10,000 people.
“The persecution of FIFA and some Swiss federal prosecutors for 10 years is now over,” Platini told reporters. “It is now totally over. And for me, today, my honour has returned and I am very happy.”
The 69-year-old said he thought the case had been intended to prevent him becoming FIFA president, but he was now too old to return to football.
The money, which had been confiscated and held by the Swiss authorities, can now be returned to him.
A frail-looking Blatter hugged his daughter Corinne after the judgement and said he was relieved with the decision.
“It is a great relief for me because it’s been going on for ten years. It’s like a sword of Damocles hanging over my head,” he told reporters.
“And now it’s over and I can breathe,” the 89-year-old said.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 20 months in jail, suspended for two years for both Blatter and Platini.
The Swiss attorney general’s office said it would review the written judgement, before deciding whether to appeal again to the Swiss Federal Court, the country’s highest legal authority.
-Reuters
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Morocco 2025: Nigeria qualify for FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup
NFF ‘shocked and saddened’ by the demise of former NRA President, Otunba Tade Azeez
Heartbreak for Al Ahly as Sundowns edge to CAF Champions League final on away goals rule
- WOMEN'S FOOTBALL7 days ago
Naira rain falls on Nigeria’s Flamingos after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria
- OBITUARY4 days ago
NFF mourns the demise of former FIFA referee, Bosede Momoh
- Nigerian Football2 days ago
Financial rainfall awaits Nigeria’s Flamingos for every goal scored in Algeria
- U-17 AFCON7 days ago
Morocco crowned CAF U-17 AFCON champions after dramatic penalty shootout win over Mali
- U-20 FOOTBALL6 days ago
Nigeria begin CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations title chase with Tunisian clash
- feature4 days ago
Ghana’s Cardinal, Appiah Turkson, listed as a possible Pope
- Nigerian Football6 days ago
Remo Stars maintain ‘7Up’ lead over Rivers United
- Nigerian Football2 days ago
Former WAFU President, Ogufere mourns Christian Chukwu