Fraud Scandal: FIFA Suspends Congo FA President, General Secretary

Fraud Scandal: FIFA Suspends Congo FA President, General Secretary

Sampson Adedeji

World football governing body, FIFA, has suspended the president of the Congo Football Association (Fecofoot), Jean Guy Blaise Mayolas, alongside the general secretary, Badji Wantete, over alleged financial misconduct, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

Mayolas and Wantete are accused of embezzling $1.3 million of FIFA funds, including nearly $500,000 allocated to the women’s national team.

Both officials face charges of money laundering and forgery after being summoned for a hearing in Brazzaville this week.

Mayolas was first arrested in May by Congo’s Central Intelligence and Documentation Office (CID), under the Ministry of Interior.

He and Wantete have since denied any wrongdoing, describing the allegations as a “conspiracy.”

According to reports, Mayolas allegedly diverted funds through shell companies since becoming Fecofoot president in 2018. 

A declaration from presidents of women’s clubs in the Congolese top flight revealed that only $20,000 of the $500,000 sent by FIFA in 2021 under its Covid-19 relief plan reached its intended beneficiaries.

He has also been accused of mismanaging $800,000 earmarked for the construction of a national training centre in Ignié, which remains incomplete eight years later and has fallen into disrepair.

“All the funds have been blocked and nothing is happening. It’s been such a long time and no one understands where the money has gone,” a source close to the matter revealed.

This is not Mayolas’s first brush with scandal. In 2015, FIFA banned him and Wantete for six months after they were found guilty of “offering and accepting gifts and other benefits” during his tenure as Fecofoot vice-president.

Earlier this year, Congo’s sports ministry suspended Mayolas over fraud allegations, prompting FIFA to sanction the country for “third-party interference.”

That punishment forced Congo to forfeit World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania and Zambia in March, with both opponents awarded 3-0 victories.

Although Congo was reinstated in May, Mayolas and Wantete were barred from attending FIFA’s Congress in Paraguay and were later arrested.

Members of FIFA’s ethics committee visited Congo in March to assess the allegations but have yet to launch a formal investigation.

FIFA has declined to comment further on the case.