February 1 – The members of the Somali Football Federation (SFF) have voted to dismiss former president Abdiqani Said Arab at an extra ordinary congress.
The extra ordinary congress follows the suspension Abdiqani by the Somali Football executive committee on December 12 for breaking SFF statutes and corruption. The alleged offences involved misappropriation of funds related to two FIFA projects, notably in Mogadishu and Kismayo.
Abdiqani was re-elected unopposed in July 2018 and his mandate was to run until the end of 2022. He was first elected in 2014 after almost a decade as Secretary General.
During his first term, Abdiqani’s development programmes for Somalia FA were widely hailed, culminating in him being crowned as the African football leader of the year for 2015 an awards ceremony organised by the Confederation of African Football.
Senior vice president since 2012, Ali Abdi Mohamed was installed as acting president until a new election congress is convened, due by the end of the year.
The extra ordinary congress also approved a draft of the SFF Statutes upon the proposal of the executive committee, with a final draft to be discussed at the next ordinary SFF congress which is set to take place on April 30.
Mohamed said that the constitutional amendment, which has been a long-standing issue, will be ready within the next 12 weeks, and available for approval at the next ordinary congress on April 30, 2022.
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