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The former president of the African Football Confederation Ahmad, suspended for two years in 2021, comes out of silence on RFI. His sentence has now come to an end, the leader speaks at the microphone of Antoine Grognet to defend his record and restore his truth on several cases.
He was the big boss of African football for 4 years before suffering the wrath of Fifa. The former president of CAF, the Malagasy Ahmad, found guiltyin particular of “abuse of power” and “embezzlement” by the Ethics Commission of the international federation, finishes serving a two-year suspension. He takes the opportunity to return to the circumstances which led to his dismissal.
RFI: You chaired CAF from 2017 to 2021 before being suspended for 2 years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. What did you do during this period?
Ahmad: Many things ! I started a small real estate project, a new activity because, at 63, I am now retired, a much better life away from stress!
When you arrived as CAF president in 2017, you had the ambition to carry out many reforms. Do you feel like you’ve achieved it?
I would be lying if I told you yes… On the other hand, we have made things evolve. We launched quite a few projects, some did not come to an end, others did. This is an assessment that I consider positive for the family of African football.
During your mandate, one of the strong choices was to break the contract between CAF and Lagardère, which deprived CAF of significant income. Why have you done it?
We were forced to do so by Egyptian justice, COMESA [Marché commun de l’Afrique orientale et australe, NDLR] and institutional partners. But our wish was rather to be able to renegotiate.
It was Fifa who incited you to break this contract?
She pushed us in this direction, making fabulous promises of millions of dollars that we will easily find…
Did you have the impression of being manipulated in this case?
Rather badly advised…
This rupture led to a dispute for which CAF will have to pay between 25 and 50 million dollars. So was it a good choice?
We did not break the contract. We have taken the case to a Swiss arbitration court, and we do not want to pay anything, rather reach a renegotiation so that both parties can benefit from this contract, because we believe that he was not signed at his fair value and that we can still increase the income of CAF.
After the breach of this contract, CAF seems to have lost its autonomy, suffering from major cash flow problems. Do you feel you have a responsibility in this situation?
We never had any financial problems until 2021. We were even still able to give money to the federations.
In August 2019, you accepted the principle of a partnership between CAF and Fifa for a Confederation assistance and audit mission. Wasn’t it finally a guardianship that didn’t say its name?
No way ! I myself asked the Executive Committee to validate this decision. It was a strategy to be able to go very quickly in the reforms. If Fifa came for other reasons, I don’t want to know. For my part, I wanted to have support, and Fatma [Samoura, secrétaire générale de la Fifa, NDLR] brought us a lot of things to speed up certain files.
Six months after the establishment of this partnership, CAF decided to end it in Rabat, during a rather stormy Executive Committee, attended by Gianni Infantino. What memories do you have of this moment?
A memory of angry people, and I didn’t know why… Because the partnership was established for six months, renewable if necessary. But the majority of the members of the Executive Committee realized that the work done was enough to launch the reforms. Nothing more !
Do you have the feeling of being let go by Fifa at that time?
I actually have the feeling of being let down by friends who have agreed to work with you… Those closest to Fifa say to themselves: “Ah, Ahmad signed his death warrant»…
How did you take the five-year suspension imposed by Fifa at the time, reduced to two years by the CAS?
The first reaction is always to feel offended… Then when you talk to your lawyers, that’s when you realize it was a political act…
Do you intend to return to the world of football?
I do not think so. But football remains a passion. I practiced it from the age of five or six years in the bush, it is not today that this passion will fade. But I will live it in another form. I will mainly support young people at home, in Majoenga, a football city. I will support training centers. If people want my expertise, I will give it.