Governing Bodies
Ex-World Cup media officer loses appeal in Qatar
A former employee of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organisers who raised concerns over migrant workers has lost his appeal against a conviction for corruption.
A court in Doha sentenced Abdullah Ibhais to three years in prison after it upheld a guilty verdict on the charge of misappropriating state funds.
Ibhais said security forces coerced him into signing a confession and that he was being punished for criticising the handling of a migrant workers’ strike.
Qatari officials denied the claims.
They insisted the trial was fair and that Ibhais was convicted on the basis of “an abundance of strong and credible evidence”.
Human rights group FairSquare said the failure of football’s world governing body, Fifa, to call on Qatar to ensure a fair trial had “enabled” the verdict, for which, it asserted, there was no evidence other than Ibhais’s confession.
Ibhais, a Jordanian national, was a media manager for Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, which is overseeing preparations for the World Cup.
The Supreme Committee said that it received a complaint alleging corrupt activity in October 2019 from a third party participant in a tender for a contract related to the management of its social media platforms.
Following an internal investigation, Ibhais and another employee were suspended on full pay and the findings were passed on to Qatari authorities, it added.
FairSquare and Human Rights Watch reported that Ibhais was initially arrested that November on the basis of allegations that he was engaged in activities aimed at “harming the state or its security”.
He told the two campaign groups that interrogators coerced him into confessing to lesser charges, and that he was denied access to a lawyer during questioning.
Ibhais alleged that it was his internal criticism of the Supreme Committee’s handling of a strike by migrant workers over unpaid wages in August 2019 that led to his prosecution.
He retracted the confession during his trial, but the court refused to invalidate it and found him guilty this April of “bribery”, “violation of the integrity of tenders and profits”, and “intentional damage to public funds”. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Ibhais was taken into custody by police on 15 November, reportedly just before he was due to be interviewed by two journalists from Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. The journalists were later detained themselves by Qatari security forces for more than 30 hours for allegedly trespassing on private property and filming without a permit.
Ibhais went on hunger strike in prison while awaiting his appeal.
“For me this was the last resort after I was denied a chance for a fair trial. I was denied the chance to be heard. I was denied the chance to speak up,” he said in an audio message released by the Dutch newspaper NRC on 2 December in which he denied any wrongdoing.
On Wednesday, Qatar’s Court of Appeal upheld his conviction but reduced his sentence to three years. Ibhais was not in court for the hearing, which one journalist who attended said lasted less than a minute.
A Qatari official said the case “followed all the proper legal procedures and protocols” and that the evidence against him “included extensive details of the crime – much more than the defendant’s own confession”.
“The State of Qatar rejects in the strongest possible terms any assertion that the ruling was influenced by factors other than its unwavering commitment to justice and the rule of law.”
The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said the allegations that the case was linked to Ibhais’ views on migrant workers were “ludicrous, defamatory, and absolutely false”.
Nicholas McGeehan, co-director of FairSquare, said: “Every day Abdullah Ibhais remains in jail more people will know his name, know what he did for the migrant workers who built Qatar’s World Cup, and know the price he has apparently paid for that.”
“It was Qatar’s World Cup organisers who instigated this prosecution, but it was Fifa’s silence that enabled today’s verdict,” he added.
A Fifa spokesperson said any person deserved a fair trial that observed and respected due process, and that it would “consider today’s ruling before making any further comment”.
-BBC
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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