Mali: Mamoutou Touré, known as "Bavieux Touré", one year in detention

"Bavieux" Touré was placed in detention three weeks before the Fémafoot presidential election of 29 August 2023, in which the outgoing president was the sole candidate for his own succession. He was the only candidate after the list of his main opponent, Salaha Baby, was invalidated by an appeals electoral commission that opponents described as beholden to him, and through which MamoutouTouré is alleged to have used his influence to clear the way for his re-election.

Read more on this subject: Femafoot: Mamatou Touré re-elected president

The case for which he is in detention predates Mamoutou Touré's accession to the Femafoot presidency and involves several senior Malian administration officials, among them former National Assembly president Ichaka Sidibé. It is unequivocally non-sporting. At the time of the events (2013-2019), Mamoutou "Bavieux" Touré was the administrative and financial director of the National Assembly.

Also read: Mali: Femafoot president sent to prison

In the wake of that, on Tuesday 29 August in Bamako, in breach of Fémafoot's ethics rules and of the good governance standards championed by FIFA, the elective general assembly of the Malian Football Federation, attended by FIFA and CAF representatives, was held without the sole candidate, who was nonetheless re-elected president from his prison cell.

What of the role of CAF and FIFA?

Citing their commitment to the presumption of innocence, which must apply at all times to anyone accused, and in this case to Mamoutou "Bavieux" Touré, FIFA and CAF chose to endorse an unlikely situation in African football, with a detained official kept in his post. Did the governing bodies approve "Bavieux"'s re-election despite noting his legal situation, in the hope of securing his release quickly, unaware that in Mali pretrial detention of people suspected of corruption can last for years?

It was in this spirit that CAF president Patrice Motsepe publicly announced on Friday 13 October last, in Abidjan, at the draw ceremony for the 2023 AFCON, that he would do everything possible to get his "friend" out of prison. That intention was subsequently put into practice through several secret missions to Bamako, led by CAF secretary general Veron Mosengo-Omba.

According to our information, CAF's latest mission, in early July 2024, is said to have served as a platform for negotiations with the Malian government through the sports minister, Abdoul Kassim Fomba. According to local sources, during this final attempt to extract "Bavieux" from the clutches of the Malian justice system, CAF is said to have put on the table the promise of a major competition being awarded to Mali in future, and a guarantee of homologation for certain stadiums currently being renovated.

"Bavieux", a key figure for CAF?

According to a former member of the Fémafoot Executive Committee, "responsibly, FIFA and CAF should rather work towards declaring the various posts held by Mamoutou Touré "Bavieux" vacant, on grounds of permanent inability to perform his official duties and also of unavailability for six consecutive ordinary sessions. This declaration of vacancy must lead either to the appointment of a normalisation committee or to a rerun of the flawed electoral process that ended with a prisoner being elected to head the executive of Malian football."

He bases this on paragraph 46.1 of the Femafoot statutes, which states: "A position on the Executive Committee shall be considered vacant in the event of death, resignation, exclusion, permanent inability to perform one's official duties, unavailability for six consecutive ordinary sessions, or finding oneself in a situation of incompatibility during one's term of office. "

Yet since his controversial election on 29 August 2023, Mamoutou "Bavieux" Touré has not only been permanently unable to perform his official duties as president, but has also been unavailable for more than six consecutive ordinary sessions, under the terms of that very paragraph.

Investigations under way into bank movements

While awaiting a happy outcome for those involved in Malian football, the secretary general of the Confederation of African Football, Véron Mosengo-Omba, is currently at the centre of a scandal at CAF over his involvement in a report on governance within the body by Hannan Nur, head of the governance, risk and compliance (GRC) department.

According to local sources, following the discovery of several bank accounts belonging to the Malian Football Federation, said to be unjustified, through which hundreds of millions of CFA francs pass, Mali's economic and financial unit is said to have opened an investigation to establish the source of the funds and the reason they were sent to the federation.

Dashed hopes

Many had seen Mamoutou "Bavieux" Touré's arrival at the head of Malian football in August 2019 as a glimmer of hope for reuniting those involved in the game and for the pursuit of convincing results on the pitch, coming in the wake of one of the darkest periods in its history. The reality proved otherwise during that term, and was even more dramatic in the second term he won in August 2023 from his cell.

Malian football under the "Bavieux" era boils down to recurring conflicts with opponents, resulting in a complete absence of sporting results. These disputes have taken the form of electoral challenges following power grabs, repeated referrals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, statutory challenges following irregular general assemblies, challenges over sporting results and financial disputes.

A year after he was jailed by the Malian justice system, which coincides with the end of his five-year term in office, Mamoutou "Bavieux" Touré's executive committee has fallen out with almost every part of Malian football (football districts, regional leagues, clubs, sports groups, former internationals and referees).

The latest dispute, which is still making waves in both national and international media, is the one with the senior Eagles, who unanimously decided to boycott Mali's national team because of the executive committee's poor governance. It is fair to say the outlook for Malian football is far from clear for now.