Mon, Feb 10, 2020 page10

• Audit exposes African soccer discrepancies

  • AP
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  The scale of financial wrongdoing across soccer in Africa has been unearthed in a confidential audit of the continent’s governing body that raises concerns about the legitimacy of millions of dollars of payments to executives and national associations.

  The Associated Press on Saturday obtained a copy of the private forensic review of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that was undertaken by financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) last year when FIFA was effectively running the troubled body.

  The auditors grappled with limited documentation to account for payments at CAF worth millions of US dollars that raised doubts about the nature of contracts, the need for family members of executives to receive payments, and raised the prospect of kickbacks and tax evasion attempts.

  

  FIFA president Gianni Infantino, left, points as Confederation of African Football president Ahmad Ahmad looks on at the Africa Cup of Nations final at the Cairo International Stadium on July 19 last year.

  Photo: Reuters

  The report, which is more than 50 pages long, covers 2015 to last year and the CAF presidencies of Issa Hayatou and successor Ahmad Ahmad, who remains in the role despite an ongoing ethics investigation that predates this audit.

  The lack of documents related to financial transactions before 2015 has already been highlighted as an area needing further investigation, according to separate recommendations from a joint FIFA-CAF task force in another document.

  The task force, which includes political and legal figures from across Africa, has urged due diligence checks on payments from FIFA and CAF to the 54 member associations on the continent.

  FIFA remitted US$51 million to an Egyptian-based bank account from 2015 to 2018 as part of its “Forward Program,” according to the audit.

  By Dec. 18, 2018, US$24 million had been disbursed across the continent and US$10 million of this — or 40 payments — was reviewed and investigated.

  PwC found that US$4.6 million from 14 payments had “no or insufficient supporting documentation to determine the beneficiary, purpose and benefit for CAF.”

  Another US$3.6 million, accounting for 21 payments, was “considered unusual or deemed higher risk,” the report said.

  Only five payments of those scrutinized — amounting to US$1.6 million — had “sufficient documentation” and were said to have been used for the purpose intended.

  “Based upon the procedures performed and documents reviewed, several red flags, potential elements of mismanagement and possible abuse of power were found in key areas of finance and operations of CAF,” the PwC auditors said in the report. “Given the serious nature of certain findings and red flags identified from the preliminary due diligence, we cannot rule out the possibility of potential irregularities.”

  They said that US$215,000 was spent during a general assembly meeting in Ethiopia in March 2017.

  “Lack of key financial controls and absence of segregation of duties in day-to-day financial operations was observed during the review,” PwC said. “Often a single employee would have the authority to, and have executed, conflicting duties such as approving expenditure, receiving of goods and services, and approving payments.”

  The report found that CAF appeared to pay about US$100,000 for 18 people, including Ahmad, and federation heads to travel on an Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

  “CAF stated that the cost of traveling of 18 people between their home countries to Egypt was booked as ‘official expense’ towards organizing a meeting at Egypt and the cost of traveling between Egypt and Saudi Arabia was taken by CAF’s president personally,” the report said.

  “However, CAF could not provide any documents to support that an official meeting was organized in Egypt during this time. It is to be noted that the presumed costs of travel between Egypt and Saudi Arabia is in the range of [US]$20,000-[US]$30,000 higher than the actual reimbursement made by CAF’s president,” it said.

  Ahmad declined to comment on the audit’s findings.
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