April 30 – Speculation is mounting that under-fire African football supremo Ahmad Ahmad (pictured) may be facing several challenges to his rule.
Ever since being elected president of the Confederation of African Football, Ahmad has undergone intense scrutiny and local reports on the African Continent now suggest several pretenders may be plotting to dethrone him if, as expected, he bids for a second term in January next year.
Among the names being cited by unnamed sources are Hani Abou Rida (Egypt), Fouzi Lakjaa (Morocco), Augustin Senghor (Senegal), Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast) and Constant Omari (Congo).
Omari is currently CAF’s first vice-president and Lakjaa 2nd vice-president while two of the other three are members of the CAF executive committee.
Last spring, at the time he was CAF general secretary, Amr Fahmy blew the whistle on the corrupt activities of his boss by filing a litany of complaints with the FIFA Ethics Committee which are still being investigated.
He was subsequently fired from the role and sadly died in February this year at the age of 36. Shortly before his death Fahmy revealed he planned to unseat Ahmad by going for the region’s top job himself.
The file against Ahmad presented by Fahmy is understood to include multiple financial mismanagement accusations as well as a swathe of sexual harassment complaints.
Fahmy’s information is said to show he was ordered by Ahmad to pay $20,000 into accounts of African football association presidents including those of Cape Verde and Tanzania – Ahmad’s supporters point out that these payments were transparent and recorded in CAF accounts – and that Ahmad cost CAF an extra $830,000 by striking a deal with French company Tactical Steel.
Fahmy’s revelations caused shockwaves across the continent and beyond and prompted FIFA to effectively take over the running of African football for six months last year, controversially dispatching its own general secretary Fatma Samoura to be in charge of African affairs.
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