Fifa controls Africa and ethics committee lacks independence, says former Caf boss Ahmad
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:15 pm
https://www.bbc.com/sport/africa/64934824 READ FULL REPORT ON BBC
Fifa's ethics committee lacks independence and the game's governing body is controlling Africa for strategic reasons, claims former Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Ahmad following the end of his two-year ban from football.
The 63-year-old, who took charge of Caf in 2017, prior to his 2020 suspension for breaching various Fifa ethics codes, says he wants to help local football in his homeland Madagascar after returning to the sport in December.
Meanwhile, his former ally Gianni Infantino will be handed another four-year term since the Fifa president's control of world football is such that no rival candidate was prepared to contest Thursday's elections, the first on African soil, in Rwanda.
Ahmad believes his ban came after refusing to follow Infantino's desired aims, chief among them the February 2020 decision to cancel the assistance Fifa was then giving Caf at its headquarters in Egypt.
"My suspension was political," Ahmad told BBC Sport Africa, while recalling a heated meeting between Caf and Fifa in Morocco.
After African football's ruling body chose not to extend its unprecedented deal with Fifa - with secretary general Fatma Samoura having served six months as the 'general delegate for Africa' in Cairo in a bid to improve governance - Infantino stormed out and headed straight to the airport.
"Fatma really helped but in six months we had what we wanted so did not extend the mission, but it angered the people of Fifa - Gianni was angry," said Ahmad.
"Upon leaving the meeting, some Fifa people were telling my colleagues that I had signed my death warrant. What is a death warrant in football? It is surely to use the ethics committee, the lethal weapon they were using at the time."
Fifa's ethics committee lacks independence and the game's governing body is controlling Africa for strategic reasons, claims former Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Ahmad following the end of his two-year ban from football.
The 63-year-old, who took charge of Caf in 2017, prior to his 2020 suspension for breaching various Fifa ethics codes, says he wants to help local football in his homeland Madagascar after returning to the sport in December.
Meanwhile, his former ally Gianni Infantino will be handed another four-year term since the Fifa president's control of world football is such that no rival candidate was prepared to contest Thursday's elections, the first on African soil, in Rwanda.
Ahmad believes his ban came after refusing to follow Infantino's desired aims, chief among them the February 2020 decision to cancel the assistance Fifa was then giving Caf at its headquarters in Egypt.
"My suspension was political," Ahmad told BBC Sport Africa, while recalling a heated meeting between Caf and Fifa in Morocco.
After African football's ruling body chose not to extend its unprecedented deal with Fifa - with secretary general Fatma Samoura having served six months as the 'general delegate for Africa' in Cairo in a bid to improve governance - Infantino stormed out and headed straight to the airport.
"Fatma really helped but in six months we had what we wanted so did not extend the mission, but it angered the people of Fifa - Gianni was angry," said Ahmad.
"Upon leaving the meeting, some Fifa people were telling my colleagues that I had signed my death warrant. What is a death warrant in football? It is surely to use the ethics committee, the lethal weapon they were using at the time."