Exclusive - CAF: $25m loss instead of $9m, where did the $16m go?
In a scathing report, the CAF Audit and Compliance Committee laments unrecorded expenses of $16 million
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Having unanimously rejected the financial statements closed at 30 June 2023 and the external auditor's report, the CAF Audit and Compliance Committee has gone further, giving concrete details on the true economic situation of the Confederation of African Football.
In an official letter seen by Sport News Africa, it states that it "was not possible for the committee to ensure that there was no double counting of income". More seriously, "a review of EY's (Ernst & Young associates) Management Letter revealed unrecorded expenses totalling 16.18 million dollars, as follows:
- 1.98 million dollars corresponds to unrecorded expenses that should have been provisioned for the financial year ended 30 June 2023
- 11.90 million dollars corresponds to technical costs not allocated to clubs, federations and host countries, and closed
- 2.30 million dollars corresponds to debit balances relating to impaired or irrecoverable receivables.
All other things being equal, and given the unrecorded expenses of 16.18 million dollars, CAF's result at 30 June 2023 should have been a loss of 25.43 million dollars instead of 9.25 million."
16.18 million dollars unrecorded
Against an extremely tense backdrop, in which this same committee had already recommended that the Executive Committee take action (including suspensions) against secretary general Véron Mosengo-Omba and several other CAF members, this report casts a fresh shadow over the institution's overall governance and its integrity.
Read also: Audit and Compliance Committee calls for suspension of CAF Secretary General Véron Mosengo-Omba
Worse still, Sport News Africa can confirm that attempts at intimidation and pressure were made on the committee to make it more lenient. "It bothers them a lot that these people are independent", says a member of the Executive Committee.
It remains to be seen how much longer this administration will stay in place, given the silence of that same Executive Committee in official meetings.