Nairobi News

General

Ahmad back as Caf boss


The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) has allowed the Confederation of African (Caf) president Ahmad Ahmad to temporarily resume office pending the hearing of his appeal after he was slapped with a lengthy ban by the sport’s world governing body Fifa.

The Caf boss was not slapped with a five-year ban but also handed a $200,000 (about Sh21 million) fine by Fifa after he was found guilty of contravening the governing body’s codes of ethics.

The 61-year old was accused of disloyalty, offering and accepting gifts, abuse of office, and misappropriation of funds. He has denied these allegations and went on to appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has now ruled in his favour.

Cas made a preliminary ruling on Friday, restoring the administrator back to his post, and a final decision will be made before the Caf presidential elections on March 12.

“Due to a risk of irreparable harm for Mr Ahmad if the disciplinary sanction is maintained during the period prior to the Caf elections, the Cas panel has upheld the request to temporarily stay the effects of the [Fifa ban],” Cas, said in a statement.

The court, however, rejected a request from Ahmad to prevent the world football governing body from disallowing him from participating in the Caf elections.

“The arbitral Panel has rejected the request for provisional measures filed by Mr Ahmad seeking that an order be imposed preventing Fifa from taking any decision aimed at preventing Mr Ahmad from participating in, or aimed at making it difficult for him to participate in,the election for the Caf presidency scheduled for 12 March 2021.”

Jacques Anouma [Ivory Coast], Patrice Motsepe [South Africa], Augustin Senghor [Senegal] and Ahmed Yahya [Mauritania] have been cleared to contest for the elections, although the reprieve for Ahmad opens the door for the current timescale for the voting process to be altered.

Ahmad secured a landmark victory in the 2017 elections in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to emerge as the Caf president, defeating Issa Hayatou, who had been in the position since 1988.