Equatorial Guinea: FEGUIFUT president threatens to resign
Tensions are running high at the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation (FEGUIFUT), whose president is threatening to step down.
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Venancio Tomás Ndong Michá could step down as president of the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation (FEGUIFUT) on 12 July. The move would come if Nzalang Nacional were to be disqualified from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The qualifying draw is scheduled for 13 July in Abidjan. Equatorial Guinea must settle money owed to a number of former coaches before 12 July. Esteban Becket and Pozanco were sacked without compensation. That leaves Equatorial Guinea just 10 days to clear this debt of 2 million euros, or risk being left out of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Rulings by FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) make Equatorial Guinea's participation conditional on the debts being paid. Despite the involvement of the country's vice-president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the debts remain unpaid. “When people take on institutions, they have challenges to meet. And when things aren't working, it is better to step aside. If the issue of the former coaches is not resolved at Government level and by FIFA, I will feel it is a failure on my part. So I will resign. I will leave my post, I will call elections and I will not continue to run this institution”, Ndong Micha told the local press.
Read more on the same subject : 2026 World Cup (Q): Equatorial Guinea to be excluded in 16 days?
As if saying farewell, the current FEGUIFUT president once again set out the ambitions that brought him to this sporting institution. “When I took on the role of president of this institution, I did so to work with FIFA and CAF. We inherited a problem that we did not create and in two years the whole world has seen what we are capable of (on the pitch)”, he added.
“I am also not committed to being at the head of FEGUIFUT for the whole of my life. I came with my team to help our football. We found a problem for which we still have no solution today, and perhaps there is someone who can come and take the reins of this institution and do it better than us”, Venancio Tomás Ndong Michá went on. “In recent weeks, intense work has been done at FIFA, with the coaches' lawyers and within my Government, where we made every proposal necessary to unblock this situation. I am already exhausted and worn out”, lamented the man who could step down as head of FEGUIFUT.
Jim CEESAY