April 26 – FIFA has appointed a normalisation committee to oversee the daily affairs and elections of the Congo DR Football Association (FECOFA).
Dieudonné Sambi Selelutu will lead the committee, but FIFA has specified that all members of the committee will undergo an eligibility check conducted by the FIFA Review Committee. None of the committee members will be permitted to stand for office in the upcoming FECOFA elections.
In 2021, FIFA extended the mandate of FECOFA’s executive committee to allow for the elections. However, with the elections still not having taken place, FIFA intervened again this week.
At a news conference, CAF secretary-general Véron Mosengo-Omba said: “The temporary extension of the mandate of the current executive committee of FECOFA did not allow, despite the support provided by the two FIFA/CAF delegates, to lead FECOFA to regular elections as planned. FECOFA and, with it, Congolese football is in an irregular, unhealthy, and deadlocked situation that the higher football authorities cannot allow to continue within one of their member associations.”
After the departure of long-time FECOFA leader Constant Omari over a corruption case investigated by the FIFA Ethics Committee, his interim successor, Donatien Tshimanga, was criticised for his inaction over allegations of sexual abuse in Congolese football.
The mandate of the normalisation committee runs until November 30.
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