African football executive accused of ‘whitewashing’ report into his conduct

The Confederation of African Football’s general secretary, Véron Mosengo-Omba, could be suspended after he was accused of “whitewashing” an investigation into allegations of serious misconduct against him.

Caf’s audit and compliance committee claimed there had been “unauthorised interference” from Mosengo-Omba regarding a report into his conduct, because the external auditor had been appointed by him.

Last month Caf opened an investigation into Mosengo-Omba and his office after its head of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) accused them of “impeding” members of her department from performing their duties and, among other claims, of breaching internal governance and auditing regulations.

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Caf said its audit and compliance committee would appoint an independent international law firm or audit and professional services firm to conduct the investigation, and its president, Patrice Motsepe, promised “appropriate action will immediately be taken if improper conduct or behaviour is identified”.

When the external auditor EY submitted a report it was rejected by the committee, which wrote, in a report seen by the Guardian, that it was “unable to have reasonable assurance on the accuracy of the opening balances for the period concerned”.

The committee said it had been “surprised to receive a so-called ‘draft report of the audit and compliance committee’” via Caf’s director of legal affairs. “The committee learned that this ‘draft report’ that it is asked to validate, was prepared by an external consultant recruited by the Caf secretariat, without informing the commission and without obtaining its prior agreement,” it said.

An EY consultant presented her report at a meeting on 7 September but members of the audit and compliance committee decided it “was prepared in such a way as to contradict all the allegations contained in the confidential report” by the GRC.

They said: “The committee is convinced that this is work oriented towards the aim of whitewashing parties to the detriment of others concerned by the ongoing independent investigation. By appointing an external consultant who interferes in the work of the committee without our agreement, the CAF secretariat contravenes the principle of independence of our committee and exceeds its statutory powers in this regard.”

The committee’s report also accused its vice-chair Mouhamed Nour-Dine Assindoh of having liaised with the consultant over her report without its consent. It called for Assindoh to be suspended from the committee until the end of his term in June 2027 and for Caf to take the “necessary decisions” regarding Mosengo-Omba. It is understood the committee believes that suspending Mosengo-Omba would be an appropriate first step. Neither Caf nor Mosengo-Omba responded to repeated requests from the Guardian for comment.

Mosengo-Omba posted on X in July: “My efforts to turn around and regularize this institution, which has been disrespected at times, are being sabotaged by an out-of-the-blue report containing grievances without documented proof. The planned independent investigation will expose the falsity & origin of this report.”

At a meeting of Caf’s executive committee in Nairobi last week, Motsepe insisted the audit and compliance commission’s investigation into Mosengo-Omba would be allowed to proceed without interference. “No one will tell them how to do their work,” he said. “They are independent.”

Caf was embarrassed when a livestream of the usually private executive committee meeting in the Kenyan capital appeared on YouTube by mistake. It was taken down after Motsepe appeared to openly question the integrity of some of the executive committee’s members. “You are not my friend and you are not helping me when you are not honest with me,” he said.

A proposal to extend the 70-year age limit by five years for prospective executive committee members was passed without opposition. That is expected to prompt the 71-year-old Egyptian and Fifa council member Hany Abo Rida announce that he will stand against Motsepe in next year’s elections.