Heads have rolled at Caf since Motsepe arrival

DURING the night of May 24-25, some 15 Confederation of African Football (Caf) employees were informed by email that they had been let go.

The recipients all received the same message, which was composed of a few very explicit, cryptic sentences.

“Your mission at Caf is over. Don’t come to headquarters anymore. You will receive your salary for the month of June.”

Those who had turned off their phones had a brutal start to the day.

“These appear to be unfair dismissals. There were no prior interviews, which is the law in Egypt, where Caf’s headquarters are located,” says the head of an African federation, who wishes to remain anonymous.

“We knew that tensions had arisen ever since Motsepe was elected, that heads would roll, which is not surprising when new management arrives. What is surprising, however, is the method used.”

People close to Ahmad Ahmad have been targeted

The email targeted about 15 people, some of who held strategic positions.

For example, Marwa Hosam Eldin, the head of human resources, Nevine Tahseen Ibrahim, who was in charge of the finance department and had worked at Caf for 23 years, Mohamed Salem, the director of information and technology, and Achta Mahamat Saleh, the legal director.

Abdel Bah, the former interim secretary-general appointed in April 2020, is still waiting to be notified of his dismissal. However, he is no longer considered to be part of the Caf staff.

Two people close to Ahmad Ahmad, who served as Caf’s president from 2017-2021, have been added to this non-exhaustive list. They are his former adviser Abdullah Moustapha and his assistant Aimane Hamadi.

Ali Aissaoui, the commercial director, chose to resign. “When new management arrives, a certain amount of re-organisation takes place, which is quite logical. But many believe that these dismissals took place outside of any legal framework,” says a close friend of one of the dismissed people.

A second wave of dismissals?

According to our information, the majority of cases have been or are being settled out of court.

“These dismissals did not target people close to Ahmad, except for Mustapha and Hamadi, whose departures are not surprising,” continued the source.

“It is more a matter of replacing staff. Even though it has been said that Marwa Hosam Eldin and Mohamed Salem’s reluctance to implement the measures recommended by the audit firm didn’t do them any favours.”

The people who have been dismissed have not yet been replaced. But they will be, and some of them will receive higher salaries. Therefore, these redundancies have clearly not been carried out as part of some austerity plan.

They will not be the last, as a second wave is expected in the coming weeks that may target other departments, such as communications.

In the Caf offices, where about 100 people are employed, the atmosphere is far from serene.

Several employees have already been warned that further redundancies are planned. The management’s communication is not likely to reassure its more anxious members of staff.

“We are not talking about brutal management occurring on a daily basis. The problem is that there is little communication between the secretary-general and the various departments. There are many unanswered emails and blocked projects,” says an internal source.

“For a little over three months now, the atmosphere has been very peculiar, and that generates a lot of stress.”

Fifa’s shadow

In the institution’s offices, employees have also become accustomed to running into Fifa emissaries, who are assisting the new management.

Veron Mosengo-Omba, Caf’s new general-secretary and a Fifa defector, who is reputed to be very close to Fifa president Gianni Infantino, has brought his former assistant from Zurich, Sandra Lattore, with him.

These comings and goings have reinforced the belief of certain players and observers of African football that Caf has been reduced to simply taking orders from Fifa.

The head of a sub-Saharan football federation, who also wishes to remain anonymous, shares this point of view.

“To say that Fifa decides everything is an exaggeration,” he said, “but it has influence, which has been reinforced by Mosengo-Omba’s appointment. Infantino is aware of what is happening at Caf, but it is not up to him to make decisions. At least I hope not…”

Motsepe only came to the office once and barely stayed 30 minutes.

In fact, Mosengo-Omba and his staff are responsible for overseeing Caf’s day-to-day operations.

In anticipation of a new wave of dismissals, former Ghanaian international Anthony Baffoe has stepped down as director of competitions.

He is expected to be replaced by Patrick Mboma, the former captain of Cameroon’s Lions Indomptables.

Caf has begun its transformation, which is clearly not over yet. — The Africa Report