FEMAFOOT: Tough times as account is in the red

The tone is set. For his first press conference at the head of FEMAFOOT, held on Friday, May 22, Mahazou said Baba Cisset has chosen to play card on the table. Facing the journalists, the new president of Malian football described a federation in full trouble, between governance problems, fragile finances and administrative dysfunctions.

According to him, the administration of the federation suffered from a total lack of clear procedures. Some responsibilities, such as finance, procurement or logistics, were concentrated in the hands of a single person, with no real internal control. "This is not normal," the leader repeated several times.

Among the practices pointed out: the use of personal email addresses to manage the federation’s official documents. A significant risk for data security, says Mahazou Baba Cisset, who announced the immediate creation of business accounts for employees and managers of the institution.

The new president also revealed that several employees continued to be paid despite expired contracts, sometimes dating back to 2024. An external audit must now shed light on these situations.

A very worrying financial situation
But it is above all on the financial front that the revelations have made an impression. The president refers to a cash flow "far from good," with several bank accounts in deficit and a total debt estimated at nearly 746 million CFA francs.

To this are added more than 100 million CFA francs of credits already consumed before the arrival of the new office. Mahazou Baba Cisset also claims that some financial supporting documents remain unfound, including for the auditors responsible for reviewing the accounts. In response to these anomalies, several bank accounts have been suspended pending the results of the audits.

The 2026 budget of the federation is also in the sights. Valued at more than 3.3 billion CFA francs, it is, according to the president, out of touch with the federation’s financial reality. Even more surprising, no precise state of budget execution could have been provided to the new executive committee.

The contract with Airness deemed unbalanced
Despite this tense context, a new cycle is underway. The head of FEMAFOOT has already announced several reforms. These include the reorganization of services, the modernization of administrative tools, the installation of surveillance cameras and a digital access control system at the federation’s headquarters.

The leader also praised the financial support of Orange Mali and FIFA, which helped ease cash flow in recent weeks.

Finally, the case of the equipment supplier Airness could quickly evolve. The current contract is considered unbalanced by the new office, which is now considering a renegotiation or an outright termination.

Elected on April 16, 2026 with a large majority of 69 votes out of 72, Mahazou Baba Cisset, from the corporate world, now intends to imprint a new management method based on transparency and rigor, with regular milestones to monitor the progress of reforms.

A leader from the private sector
Before taking control of Malian football, the new president built a solid career in the private sector. He worked for AngloGold Ashanti, then for Malitel, where he held financial and commercial positions.

He then continued his career at Boart Longyear, where he moved up to management positions, before expanding his international experience, notably in Montreal. He then founded, in 2015, Drill Corp Sahara Mali.

In football, his involvement is more recent but structured. This interest materialized through the creation of the ABM Foot Academy in 2022 and that of the MaliCoura Football Club in 2024, which he led to the national elite two years later. At the controls of FEMAFOOT, he inherits a colossal project. It is a matter of overhauling governance, restoring financial balance and reviving Malian football in search of stability and results.