Benin: stormy executive committee meeting and relegation of JSO
In Benin, the football federation has ratified the relegation of Jeunesse Sportive de Ouidah, as recommended by the ethics commission
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It is the affair that has been rocking football in Benin for several weeks now. Under a ban on signing new players imposed by FIFA this summer over unpaid wages, JSO got around the sanction by using the licences of a lower-division club, Glehoue United Sport (GUS).
Read also: Benin: the football federation's double game with fraudulent licences
Although both clubs were eventually punished with relegation and a heavy fine by the federation's ethics commission, the FBF Executive Committee has enforced none of the decisions. That prompted an extraordinary session on Thursday 23 January, in which tempers flared between the federation president, Mathurin De Chacus, and several of those present.
Verbal sparring with the ethics commission president
Rarely challenged, De Chacus faced genuine opposition, led mainly by the ethics commission president, Edouard Tchiakpè, who demanded strict enforcement of the decisions.
A verbal clash between the two men followed, with Tchiakpè explaining that he was sticking "to the facts and not to who the person is". The implication was that this was not about the closeness that may link De Chacus to his former chief of staff, Innocent Atindéhou, who is also JSO president and who was handed a two-year ban from all football activity by the ethics commission.
Representatives of Les Requins and Adjidja also denounced the situation. That loosened a few more tongues over the FBF's peculiar management, which was refusing to enforce the decisions of FIFA and of its own ethics commission.
JSO president still not sanctioned
Although calm returned once the debates were over, the FBF statement stirred up fresh controversy. While JSO were indeed relegated and the licences between that club and GUS were indeed annulled, the sanctions imposed on the two presidents (Innocent Atindéhou and Joel Abjabohoum) are not being applied.
As a reminder, the two men were each given a two-year ban from football activity and a fine of 7,119,000 CFA under the FIFA Code of Ethics. It is a way of protecting the individuals while applying most of the decisions against the clubs concerned.
This balancing act is a way for Mathurin De Chacus to defuse a row that is awkward for his ambitions, as he hopes to seek a second consecutive term on the FIFA Council. However, other problematic issues, notably involving his cousin, general secretary Claude Paqui, are starting to cause talk within the Executive Committee; in Benin football, one affair leads to another...