TheNewsGuru

Tag: CAF

  • BREAKING: FIFA bans CAF President, Ahmad Ahmad from football

    BREAKING: FIFA bans CAF President, Ahmad Ahmad from football

    World’s football governing body, Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has handed the President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Ahmad Ahmad a five-year ban.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the independent Ethics Committee of FIFA found Ahmad guilty of financial misconduct, with the ban set to affect his ambition to contest for the CAF presidency next year.

    The adjudicatory chamber ruled that, based on information gathered by the investigatory chamber, Mr Ahmad had breached his duty of loyalty, offered gifts and other benefits, mismanaged funds and abused his position as the CAF President, pursuant to the FIFA Code of Ethics.

    Ahmad was sanctioned with a ban from all football-related activity, administrative, sports or any other, at both national and international level for five years. In addition, a fine in the amount of CHF 200,000 has been imposed on Mr Ahmad.

    A statement by the committee reads: “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.

    “In its decision, following an extensive hearing, the adjudicatory chamber ruled that, based on information gathered by the investigatory chamber, Mr Ahmad had breached his duty of loyalty, offered gifts and other benefits, mismanaged funds and abused his position as the CAF President, pursuant to the FIFA Code of Ethics.

    “Consequently, the adjudicatory chamber found that Mr Ahmad had breached arts 15, 20 and 25 of the current edition of the FIFA Code of Ethics, as well as art. 28 of the 2018 edition, and sanctioned him with a ban from all football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level for five years. In addition, a fine in the amount of CHF 200,000 has been imposed on Mr Ahmad.

    “The terms of the decision were notified to Mr Ahmad today, the date on which the ban comes into force. In accordance with art. 78 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics, the full, motivated decision will be notified to Mr Ahmad in the next 60 days, after which it will be published on legal.fifa.com”.

  • Arsenal captain Aubameyang slams CAF

    Arsenal captain Aubameyang slams CAF

    Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has slammed the Confederation of Africa (CAF) after being made to feel like a “hostage”, with the Arsenal captain and his Gabon team-mates having been forced to sleep in an airport ahead of an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Gambia.

    Patrice Neveu’s men are scheduled to play the West African country in Bakau on Monday and they arrived at the Banjul International Airport late on Sunday night.

    Upon their arrival, the Panthers were delayed at the airport with reports indicating their passports were seized despite providing their coronavirus results to the immigration officers for checks.

    Aubameyang detailed the frustrating wait on his Instagram story in the early hours of Monday, posting videos and photographs initially of his team-mates lounging around having had their passports taken from them by security.

    But as the hours passed, the photos started to show the majority of the squad attempting to sleep on the floor of the airport, using their luggage as pillows.

    Having arrived at 23:30 local time, Aubameyang began to show his frustration after waiting for three hours, posting a video at 02:31 that was accompanied by a caption that read: “Still waiting to enter Gambia, and we play at 4 pm. Nice.”

    A follow-up soon after showed the team listening to music and joking, with Aubameyang adding that “they will not discourage us”.

    Just before 06:00, Gabon were allowed into the country, just 10 hours before their scheduled kick-off.

    “Finally in the bus. Thanks for the extra motivation, Gambia,” Aubameyang wrote.

  • COVID-19: CAF President, Ahmad, released from hospital

    COVID-19: CAF President, Ahmad, released from hospital

    The President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Mr. Ahmad Ahmad, was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday.

    Ahmad, who tested positive to Covid-19 on October 30, went into isolation and observation at the AS Salam International Hospital in Cairo, Egypt, and doctors authorized him to leave Wednesday morning.

    Now not contagious anymore, and with minimal risk of complications, the CAF President returned to his home in Cairo.

    According to the CAF media outlet, doctors have prescribed at least 20 days of convalescence, during which he will have to limit his efforts in order to fully recover his energy.

    President Ahmad thanked all the medical staff of AS Salam International Hospital in Cairo for their support throughout the last 12 days.

    He also thanked his Vice-Presidents, as well as the General Secretary of the CAF, who have carried out certain missions that the President was unable to accomplish at the time.

  • AFCON Qualifiers: CAF bars newsmen, fans from Nigeria, Sierra Leone match

    AFCON Qualifiers: CAF bars newsmen, fans from Nigeria, Sierra Leone match

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Monday said no journalists or supporters would be allowed into the stadium for Nigeria’s 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone.

    A statement from the Director, Communications, of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ademola Olajire, said that CAF instructed, under Media Operations, that there would be no mixed zone in the guidelines communicated to the NFF.

    Olajire added that there would be a virtual news conference, if possible for media officers from both teams only, and that only the TV channels with the rights will be allowed flash interviews.

    ”Also, only photographers of participating teams would be allowed at the match venue.

    ”The above puts to rest all previous speculations regarding having spectators at the match venue, and whether members of the media would be allowed into the arena,” he said.

    The statement further quoted NFF’s Director of Competitions, Bola Oyeyode, as saying that only individuals accredited by the NFF would be allowed inside the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium for the Day 3 qualifier, which will kick off at 5pm Nigeria time on Friday, Nov. 13.

  • Al Ahly advance into CAF Champions League final

    Al Ahly advance into CAF Champions League final

    Al Ahly have reached the final of the Caf Champions League following their 3-1 victory over Wydad Athletic Club at Cairo International Stadium on Friday.

    The Egyptian side went into the encounter with a 2-0 advantage and did enough to reach the final stage of the competition on a 5-1 aggregate.

    Marwan Mohsen opened the scoring for the Cairo-based club with only seven minutes into the encounter, beating goalkeeper Ahmed Reda.

    The goal was initially ruled out for offside but after the centre referee consulted with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) the effort was allowed to stand.

    Wydad had their chance in the 22nd minute to find the back of the net after Kasengu Kazadi pounced on a poor pass from Al Ahly player but the forward fired his effort wide.

    Nigeria forward Junior Ajayi came close to double the Red Devils’ lead in the 25th minute but was denied by Wydad goalkeeper Reda.

    The moment eventually came for Al Ahly to add to their lead when Hussein Elshahat beat his marker before slotting home his effort.

    The second-half continued in a similar fashion with the Red Devils dominating proceedings and dictating the pace and were rewarded for their fine displays when Yasser Ibrahim scored the third goal for his side with a powerful header.

    Substitute Zouheir El Moutaraji scored an 82nd-minute effort which ended as a mere consolation as Al Ahly secured victory to progress to the final of the competition.

    Goal

  • NFF yet to receive FIFA, CAF money – Pinnick

    NFF yet to receive FIFA, CAF money – Pinnick

    President of the Nigeria Football Federation , Amaju Pinnick, says the federation is yet to receive COVID – 19 palliatives from world body FIFA and CAF .

    Pinnick said once the federation took delivery of the funds, external auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, would ensure they were properly distributed.

    Newsmen had reported that FIFA approved $1m as universal solidarity grant to all member associations, while an additional $500,000 was specifically assigned for women’s football.

    CAF also released $ 300,000 as grant to mitigate challenges as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, while the NFF got $ 200,000 from sponsors Nike and Coca Cola.

    “We’ve not received all the money, we’ve not received the one from CAF, we’ve not received from FIFA, once we receive, we are talking to PWC so that it’s not just distribution, they have to monitor how it is done, they have to monitor what we are doing to ensure it gets to the end users,” Pinnick told BBC.

    “Once we get the money, we will notify the ministry, the only one we have right now is what we have been able to warehouse from Cocacola and Nike. You can see that it is $ 2m – $1.5m from FIFA , $300,000 from CAF and $200,000 from the federation . We are going to religiously adhere to that principle.”

  • Egypt to investigate disappearance of AFCON trophy

    Egypt to investigate disappearance of AFCON trophy

    Egypt’s Public Prosecution said on Wednesday it would investigate the disappearance of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophy from the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA).

    Chief prosecutor Hamada al-Sawi ordered the incident to be referred to the Public Funds Prosecution for a judicial investigation.

    He said Egypt’s Ministry of Youth and Sports had asked the prosecution to launch a probe after EFA officials gave conflicting accounts about the reason for the loss of the trophy.

    The trophy was awarded to the Pharaohs, the country’s senior national football team, in 2010.

    Egyptian media recently reported that the original trophy of the AFCON, which the Pharaohs won three consecutive times in 2006, 2008 and 2010, disappeared from EFA’s building in Cairo.

    EFA had confirmed on Friday that it was investigating the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of trophies during a 2013 attack by the hardcore fans of Ultras.

    During that attack, its headquarters was looted and set on fire.

    The federation said the disappearance was discovered while it was preparing to display the trophies in a small museum being set up at the entrance of its headquarters.

    It added that its board was “shocked’’ to find that a number of trophies were missing.

  • African Champions League final to be played in October

    African Champions League final to be played in October

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has abandoned plans to play the semi-final and final matches of the 2019/2020 African Champions League in a single venue.

    The continental football ruling body has now set a date of Oct. 16 and Oct. 17 for the continental decider.

    Cameroon had been earmarked to host the final stages of the competition.

    But, following their withdrawal, CAF confirmed the semi-finals will be played over two legs on a home and away basis, with the final potentially at a neutral venue.

    Both semi-finals feature Moroccan clubs against Egyptian opposition as Raja Casablanca take on Zamalek, while Wydad Casablanca meet Al Ahly.

    The first legs of both ties will be played in Morocco on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26, with the return legs in Egypt on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3.

    Should the two winners be from the same nation then the final will be in that country in mid-October.

    But, if not, CAF has asked member associations to bid to host the decider at a neutral venue, setting a deadline of Aug. 17 for interested parties.

    CAF has also confirmed the dates for the African Confederation Cup’s closing stages that will be played in Morocco.

    Pyramids of Egypt meet Horoya from Guinea in Casablanca on Sept. 22, while on the same day there is an all-Moroccan clash between RS Berkane and Hassania Agadir in Rabat.

    The final will be staged at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on Sept. 27.

  • JUST IN: CAF postpones 2021 AFCON

    JUST IN: CAF postpones 2021 AFCON

    The Confederation of African Football Executive Committee on Tuesday announced the postponement of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

    It said the competition will now hold in Cameroon in January 2022.

    The decision was reached after the committee met via video-conference to discuss the future of competitions and other related issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “After consultation with stakeholders and taking into consideration the current global situation, the tournament has been rescheduled for January 2022.

    “The date for the final tournament and the remaining matches of the qualifiers will be communicated in due course,” the football body said in a statement.

    CAF also rescheduled the finals of the African Nations Championship 2020, shifting it to January 2021 also in Cameroon.

    “The CAF Executive Committee is satisfied with t the Cameroonian authorities for their commitment towards the hosting of the two competitions. Cameroon is ready to host either competition and are within schedule,” CAF President, Ahmad Ahmad said.

    The statement reads “The Total CAF Champions League and Total CAF Confederation Cup, will resume in September with a Final Four (4) format. Semi-Final matches will be played in a single match.

    “Due to challenging conditions, the 2020 edition of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations has been cancelled.

    “The 42nd CAF Ordinary General Assembly has been rescheduled for December 2020 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

    “CAF has allocated an additional USD 16.2 Million to assist Member Associations to mitigate challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each Member Associations will be entitled to USD 300,000.”

  • Why CAF May Postpone AFCON 2021

    The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) set to hold in January 2021 may be postponed as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) meet next week in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The tournament is set for Cameroon from January 9 through February 6 but appears increasingly under threat as time begins to run out amid a tight schedule.

    This is because qualification rounds are still not complete and due to predictions, national team football on the continent is not due to resume before October in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

    CAF’s executive committee will meet in an online conference on Tuesday, June 30 to decide what to do, and also set out a possible process for completing this season’s two continental club competitions.

    This follows FIFA’s decision on Thursday to cancel September’s window for national team matches in all regions, except Europe and South America. This has left CAF with fewer dates to try and complete the competition’s qualifying campaign and then finalise the field for the 24-team tournament.

    There are still four rounds of qualifiers to play and although they could yet be scheduled for October and November, that would mean having to postpone the start of the group phase of 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

    There is also the inconvenience that hosting AFCON next January would place on domestic competition, with the 2020-2021 season in most of Africa’s major leagues set to start late as they seek to first complete current campaigns which have been suspended by the pandemic. Most African leagues are halted mid-season to make space for the Cup of Nations.

    The African Champions League and African Confederation Cup were suspended at the semi-final stage and CAF will have to come up with a plan to finish the competitions with borders mostly shut, flights suspended and football stopped across the continent because of the pandemic.

    CAF must also decide whether to cancel this year’s African Nations Championship (ANC), which was due to be played in Cameroon in April. It is the tournament hosted every two years for national teams made up of home-based players only.

    There is also the decision that must be made on the African women’s championship, scheduled for November but with qualification also far from complete.

    But in this case, a postponement looks an easy decision to make because CAF is yet to find a venue for the tournament after Congo withdrew as hosts in July 2019.