Making a killing out of football: The Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) Replies to Allegations

by Sara Atteby | 28 octobre 2010 18 h 07 min

The Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) has today responded to a report on the state of Football in the Ivory Coast published on the 26th October by the website “abidjan.net” as well as the dailies “L’Intelligent d’Abidjan” and “Nord-Sud Quotidien”.

The report compiled by the forum for African Investigative Reporters’ entitled “Making a killing out of football: African reporters investigate”, claimed that the Ivorian Football Federation and its President, Mr. Jacques Anouma were guilty of alarming financial irregularities.

FIF dismiss the allegations calling the report “Nothing but slander”. Denying any involvement in such “obscure and immoral practices” the Ivorian Football Federation has called upon the journalists behind the report to “leave their lair and offload their gravediggers’ clothes of Ivorian football to appear before the constituents in the forthcoming General Assembly elective of the FIF”.

Nigeria and Cameroon were also mentioned in the report published on 26^th October 2010, and below are some of the findings concerning the Ivory Coast Football Federation:

■ FIF received $1.6m a year from the Ivorian Petrol Refinery Company, SIR, but local clubs never got any of the money. The fund’s existence only became public when SIR stopped the donations in 2007 on discovering the money was not being distributed.

■ Sports donations from the corporate sector are now routinely paid directly to the sports minister, to « avoid the money falling into the hands of [FIF president and Fifa executive member Jacques] Anouma ». The problem is exacerbated by the fact he is now also the chief financial officer.

■ In 2008 FIF announced a $2.2m surplus, with Anouma saying: « Stop accusing us of using taxpayers’ money, Fifa gives us money. » However, their own 2007 internal report detailed donations from the state run coffee-cocoa industry of more than $4m, and sources suggest a further $6m comes direct from the state.

■ Local clubs are angry about claims that players and officials are put up in plush hotels and provided with prostitutes for internationals, paid for by these state funds.

■ Even Fifa recognise the problems at FIF, announcing that they would market the Ivory Coast’s 2010 World Cup ticket allocation to « minimise the risk of fraud ».

The full response from the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) can be read here (in French): http://www.fif-ci.com/une-details.php?newsID=1677

By Sara Atteby