GENEVA (AP) — African soccer’s troubled era under confederation president Ahmad Ahmad ended Monday when FIFA banned him from the sport for five years for financial misconduct.
The decision by the FIFA ethics committee against Ahmad, one of the governing body’s vice presidents, arrived during the soccer official’s re-election campaign. FIFA was overseeing integrity checks on the potential candidates for the March 12 election.
Even before being elected to lead the Confederation of African Football in 2017, the former minister in Madgascar’s government had been linked to seeking cash gifts in 2010 from a later-disgraced Qatari official.