Football’s governing body in Africa in a state of disarray – Audit

Confederation of African Football President Ahmad Ahmad [AFP]

Football’s governing body in Africa has been shown to be in a state of disarray, an audit has revealed.

The investigation into the Confederation of African Football (Caf) questioned the body’s accounting, its governance, and its payments.

The audit highlighted transactions totalling more than $20m (£15.4m) which either have “little or no supporting documentation” or were considered “higher risk”.

One area the PwC audit suggested further investigating was “the role played” by Caf President Ahmad and his attaché, Loic Gerand, among others, in the deal with French company Tactical Steel. The company’s financial dealings with Caf were described as “highly suspicious”.

Mr Ahmad has already strenuously denied any wrongdoing with regard to this case.

The forensic audit — which was complicated by Caf’s tendency to make most of its payments in cash — also suggested considerable reforms were needed throughout Caf.

The organisation’s structure was described as being over-reliant on decisions made by the executive committee (ExCo), despite the latter meeting “once a quarter, resulting in delays in key decision-making and preventing managers of Caf departments from making timely business-critical decisions”.

In addition, a lack of clarity in Caf’s organisational structure has left departments “understaffed” and existing staff both “overworked” and “generally demotivated”.

The confidential audit, a copy of which has been seen by the BBC, was carried out as part of the unprecedented decision to send the Secretary-General of football’s world governing body, Fifa, to improve the way that Caf was run.