Two senior football administrators in Chad have been implicated in a police investigation and could soon be arraigned in court over corruption-related charges.
The two — Chad Football Association (FTFA) president Moctar Mohammed and vice-president Wang-Laouna Ibrahim Foullah — have been accused of embezzlement of funds by the report.
The Judicial Police has listed a case in the report signed by Inspector General of Police (IGP), Wahili Youssoubo, linking the duo to a complaint filed by former Chad Premier League champions AS Cotton T Chad FC and Renaissance Football Club, whereby funds allocated to both teams are said to have ended up in the football officials’ pockets.
The report adds that the IGP’s office has pieced together a watertight case to nail the football officials for the case after it submitted its investigation report May this year.
Mohammed and Foullah are accused of pocketing cash that was supposed to fund AS Cotton T Chad’s trip Ivory Coast to face Asec Mimoas in 2016 CAF Champions League and Renaissance FC’s trip to Cameroon for the same year’s CAF Confederation Cup match against New Star de Douala.
Judicial Police says that the money was diverted to a joint account in the names of the federation president and his vice president and withdrawn under unclear circumstances.
“We initiated an investigation process that was completed May this year. We have clear evidence that shows a total of 60 million CFA was withdrawn by the two officials,” reads part of the report.
Foullah has however denied the allegations but acknowledged receiving the amount as reported by Chadian online newspaper Tchad Info.
“We gave AS Coton T Chad officials 9,475,000 CFA Francs in cash and deposited 20 million CFA Francs to the club account and an equal amount to Renaissance Football Club,” he said.
However, the judicial police would have none of that and went on to pin Faullah and his deputy for misappropriation of funds which FTFA received from its affiliates at FIFA and CAF.
“Being the principal signatories for FTFA account, we will arraign them in court for forgery and misappropriation of funds estimated at 539,340,870 CFA francs and $ 200, 000,” the Judicial Police report adds.
Both clubs paid for their travel expenses and since that time they have been waiting for compensation from the football body.
The latest development has sparked fears of a possible ban heading Chad’s way from FIFA, with the Swiss-based organization known to frown upon government interference in the running of football.
