February 13 – The fierce divisions plaguing the leadership of African has taken another twist with a call to stop the internal squabbling from “spiraling out of control”.
The call has come from Sierra Leone’s Isha Johansen (pictured), ironically embroiled in an unsavoury leadership spat within her own federation but a sitting member of the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
Johansen has written a letter to executive committee members requesting an urgent meeting after two leaked letters from another exco member, Musa Bility, accused CAF president Ahmad Ahmad of violating the governing body’s statutes.
Last week Bility resigned from two senior CAF posts in protest over how Ahmad handles management of Africa’s ruling body, writing that CAF risked becoming the “subject of ridicule around the world.”
In her letter, also sent to Ahmad, Johansen wrote that the CAF leadership was “sitting on what I believe strongly has the potential of spiraling out of control.”
She also questioned the lack of response from the exco to the criticism of Ahmad, calling it a “deafening silence.”
“Am I the only one feeling that there is a storm behind this calm?”
One of Ahmad’s campaign promises when he succeeded the long-serving Issa Hayatou was that he would make CAF’s financial dealing more transparent. But in an attack on Ahmad’s leadership style, Bility claimed Ahmad told him: “I’m the president and I do as I want.”
His grievances are not just limited to the way Ahmad has allegedly manipulated hosting for the next three African Nations Cups. The Liberian has also taken issue with how CAF sealed a deal with sports betting company 1XBET which he claims happened without the approval of the executive committee.
Bility himself also has baggage when it comes to transparency having failed an integrity test when seeking the FIFA presidency in the 2016 election won by Gianni Infantino.
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