Former president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Kwesi Nyantakyi has been named as a beneficiary of a pilgrimage trip to Mecca, sponsored by banned CAF president, Ahmad Ahmad, documents sighted by Citi Sports have revealed.
On Monday, 23rd November 2020, CAF president Ahmad Ahmad was served with a five-year ban by World Football governing body.
According to a FIFA statement, the Malagasy has been banned for breaching 4 articles of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
Ahmad Ahmad had been under investigation by FIFA’s Ethics Committee for the period between 2017 and 2019, over irregularities concerning CAF-related governance issues.
According to a FIFA statement, Ahmad was found guilty of, among many governance issues, using CAF money to finance an Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca for 11 other African FA presidents including Nyantakyi.
The total cost of sponsoring the trip for the FA heads came up to 669,375 Egyptian Pounds, approximately $42,000.
The Umrah pilgrimage is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca (the holiest city for Muslims, located in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia) that can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to the Ḥajj, which has specific dates according to the Islamic lunar calendar.
Nyantakyi’s trip to Mecca was from 17th May 2018 to 25th May 2018.
The former FIFA Council Member and CAF 1st Vice President was handed a lifetime ban from football in 2018 after FIFA found him guilty of multiple infractions of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
He was also fined 500,000 Swiss Francs ($498,000).
Below is the list of the CAF presidents who benefitted from the Umrah trip:
- Juneidi Basha Tilmo – Ethiopia FA.
- Lamin Kaba Bajo – Gambia FA.
- Jamal Saleh Eljaafri
- El Franck Ben Ahamady
- Moses Magogo Hassim – Uganda FA.
- Souleiman Hassan Waberi – Djibouti FA.
- Hany Hassan Abou Rida – Ex- Egypt FA
- Ahmed Yahya – Mauritania FA
- Samir Mohamad Ally Sobha – Mauritius FA
- Sita Sangare – Burkina Faso FA.
- Ahmad Ahmad – CAF president.
- Kwesi Nyantakyi – Ex-GFA
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