September 5 – FIFA is “closely monitoring” events in Mali after Mamoutou Touré (pictured), a FIFA Council member, clinched re-election as president of the Malian Football Federation (Femafoot) while awaiting trial on charges of embezzlement in a prison cell.
At the end of last month Touré, a FIFA Council member since 2021 and a member of the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), was re-elected as head of Femafoot with a landslide victory at an extraordinary general assembly of the federation (Femafoot) by 61 votes to one, with one abstention. He was however detained by local authorities over corruption charges, and indicted for “attacking public property as well as forgery and use of forgery and complicity”. Toure is accused of embezzling a reported $28 million from the state purse.
FIFA remained conspicuous by their silence over a key African powerbroker, but in a statement to Insideworldfootball, said it “has been closely following the situation at the Malian Football Federation and is in close contact with Femafoot on this matter.”
“FIFA representatives were in Bamako, Mali where they attended as observers the Elective General Assembly held on 29 August 2023, during which Mr. Mamoutou Touré was re-elected as Femafoot President.”
“FIFA calls on all relevant parties to ensure that the statutes, rules and regulations of FIFA and Femafoot, as well as the applicable national law are respected. FIFA has a zero-tolerance policy towards any financial wrongdoing in football, and will continue to monitor the situation.
“To date, FIFA has not been notified of any court decision in relation to the allegations raised against the newly elected President of Femafoot and also recognises the principle of presumption of innocence.”
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