AFCON 2025 final: how CAF meddled in and manipulated the Appeal Jury

After consulting multiple internal sources, Sport News Africa can confirm that CAF’s own administration interfered in the Appeal Jury process billed as “independent”, in defiance of the rules and statutes laid down by CAF itself.

A little over two weeks before the Appeal Jury met, the Confederation of African Football’s secretary general, Véron Mosengo-Omba, dismissed the director of independent bodies in CAF’s legal affairs division, Yassin Osman Robleh. Officially, the dismissal came as part of a broader overhaul of the legal department and cited no particular misconduct.

In post for more than five years, the Djiboutian was unanimously recognised within the body for his professionalism. Members of the Executive Committee, including Augustin Senghor, demanded explanations from Patrice Motsepe, because the secretary general had officially no longer been entitled to hold his post since last 15 October owing to the age limit. Hence a legitimate question: how could he also sack a director without informing anyone?

Why was the director in charge of the Jury sacked two weeks earlier?

If the decision came as a surprise, its timing raised even more questions: why dismiss the director who coordinated the Appeal Jury two weeks before CAF’s most important legal procedure in recent years? What is more, the secretary general named no replacement.

To understand fully, Robleh was in charge of the Disciplinary Committee and the Appeal Jury, overseeing the application of the texts and the proper running of the so-called independent committees. Although contractually answerable to CAF, the Djiboutian was structurally detached from the administration for reasons of independence.

Working jointly with the chair of each committee, who requested a number of jurors for each case, he would then coordinate and propose the names of those to sit and rule. It was a key role in preventing interference and ensuring that each jury could be as impartial as possible depending on the case.

The influence of the legal affairs director illegally appointed by Véron Mosengo-Omba

In his absence, Sport News Africa has learned that Cédrick Aghey, recently appointed CAF director of legal affairs and compliance by the secretary general – whose office he previously ran – stepped in to choose the jurors.

Contrary to the texts governing CAF, Aghey’s appointment was already tainted by an irregularity, since the secretary general’s proposal had to be validated beforehand by the Executive Committee, which did not happen. Several members opposed the move, especially as it came from a secretary general who had been statutorily barred from office since last 15 October!

No matter, Aghey took Robleh’s place and directly chose the five jurors requested by the Appeal Jury chair, Roli Daibo Harriman. According to certain internal sources, the proposals were not truly joint but driven by the legal director, which is problematic: how could the Appeal Jury, an officially independent committee whose operation was detached from the administration, now be directly influenced by that same administration?

Conflicts of interest with the president of the Tunisian federation

Among the five jurors chosen, besides Aghey’s closeness to fellow Togolese Espoir Asogbavi Komlan, which raised eyebrows, the decision to include Moez Ben Nasri may have breached CAF’s disciplinary code.

While the president of the Tunisian football federation is under no prohibition from sitting on the jury – provided he does not belong to the Executive Committee or a CAF standing committee under Article 19 – he is supposed to “declare every conflict of interest” before the meeting under Article 20. Yet he sits at UNAF, the North African Football Union, like one of the protagonists, Morocco.

Not to mention his cosy ties with the president of the Moroccan federation, Faouzi Lekjaa, whose support proved useful in his own election in Tunisia, how could Cédrick Aghey knowingly choose Moez Ben Nasri among the five people out of the nine making up the Appeal Jury, given his shared UNAF membership?

Importantly, the Tunisian is the only member of the committee currently active in football governance. His inclusion is all the more baffling because it would allow Senegal to argue procedural defects and so secure the annulment of the vote by the CAS without even arguing the merits.

How will the Executive Committee react?

Accustomed to running CAF without regard for the statutes, the current administration has not departed from principles denounced by multiple internal reports and by the much-discussed external report produced by an Egyptian audit firm, which has been kept secret.

The problem is that this disregard for the texts could prove fatal for one of the parties (Morocco) and above all raises existential questions: what are the real reasons for Yassin Osman Robleh’s dismissal? Why not wait until the end of the procedure before removing him?

Already unhappy, the Executive Committee, which has taken refuge in silence and submission for years, could finally take responsibility at its next meeting, scheduled for 29 March, and demand accountability from Patrice Motsepe, a president who has absolutely no control over the body he is supposed to lead.