Governing Bodies
Ghana to contest ban and $100,000 fine for age-cheating at Under-17 level
Ghana will appeal against a fine and ban imposed on its women’s Under-17 football team after being found guilty of age-cheating.
Last month Morocco edged past Ghana on penalties to qualify for the 2022 Women’s U17 World Cup but subsequently launched a protest about their opponents.
The North Africans claimed two players in the Black Maidens side were over-age.
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) investigated the claims and banned Ghana from the next two editions of Africa’s qualifying for the Women’s U17 World Cup and added a fine of $100,000.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) said it will appeal in writing to Caf.
“We previously sent a written defence when this allegation started,” a top GFA official told BBC Sport Africa.
“As a body, we are strongly confident in the Caf’s appeals board to overturn this decision.”
It is not the first time that Ghana has been accused of age cheating at youth level.
Back in 2014, the men’s U17 side were banned from the 2015 U17 Africa Cup of Nations after being found guilty of age cheating in a qualifier against Cameroon, with the central Africans replacing Ghana at the tournament held in Niger.
Tackling age cheats in Cameroon
Meanwhile, a Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) ethics committee has begun hearings involving 44 players from eight different clubs who are accused of age and/or identity fraud.
Players from amateur clubs and a few from local leagues are being investigated, and several club presidents accused of complicity are also involved in the cases.
Fecafoot official Emeric Tegomo told the BBC that players found guilty at the hearings, which are scheduled to end on Friday, risk a six-month suspension.
The hearings are a rare effort in Africa to stop age-cheating or identity fraud, which has long been a major source of concern in the game across the continent.
Accusations of cheating are regularly made – and many of Africa’s international successes in junior tournaments have been clouded by allegations of use of over-age players – but methods have been introduced in an attempt to stop it.
World governing body Fifa began conducting MRI scans at the U17 World Cup in Nigeria in 2009, focusing on players’ wrists to calculate their ages.
In 2017 Fecafoot blocked 14 players from taking part in the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon after they failed MRI tests, which provide detailed images from inside the body.
Fecafoot president Samuel Eto’o, the former Cameroon, Barcelona and Inter Milan striker, promised reform of the game in the central African country when he was elected in December.
-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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