CAF president Ahmad Ahmad announced on Wednesday he will appeal FIFA’s five-year ban for corruption to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
On Monday 23 November, Ahmad was slapped with a five year ban after being found guilty of financial misconduct by the FIFA Ethics Committee. He was also fined 200,000 Swiss francs ($220,000) by FIFA for the misdeeds, which related to “the organisation and financing of an Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca” and his involvement in CAF’s dealings with a sports equipment company.
“I challenge the sanction that has been imposed. Beyond my case, it is the self-determination of football in Africa that is under attack,” Ahmad said in a statement on Twitter.
The statement added: “This decision was not rendered in a fair and impartial manner.”
Ahmad “breached his duty of loyalty, offered gifts and other benefits, mismanaged funds and abused his position as the CAF President”, FIFA said in a statement.
“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 organisation and financing of an Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca, his involvement in CAF’s dealings with the sports equipment company Tactical Steel and other activities.
The 60-year-old Madagascar Administrator who was recently diagnosed with Covid-19, suffered a major blow in his bid to re-contest for the CAF Presidency. The ban has literally knocked Ahmad out of the race for the CAF President elections to be held in March 2021.
