Fifa has begun disciplinary proceedings against three senior members of Congo-Brazzaville’s football federation, Fecofoot.
They include Fecofoot president, Jean-Guy Mayolas, who was recently sentenced to life imprisonment, along with his wife and son, after being convicted of embezzling funds provided by the world governing body.
Mayolas and his family were tried in absentia, with their whereabouts currently unknown.
The Brazzaville criminal court found Mayolas, Fecofoot general secretary Wantete Badji and the federation’s treasurer Raoul Kanda guilty of money laundering, forgery, use of forged documents and embezzlement on 10 March.
Badji and Kanda received five-year prison sentences, while all three men are now being investigated for financial misconduct after Fifa’s ethics committee said it received “information and documents” during a review.
In a statement, external, Fifa listed forgery, conflicts of interest and offering and accepting gifts among the charges.
The criminal trial claimed that $1.3m (£950,000) in Fifa funds had been misappropriated, with the bulk of that money earmarked for a training centre and women’s football, as well as Covid relief.
A declaration signed by the presidents of every women’s club in the country’s top flight, sent to Congolese authorities, insisted that only a tiny percentage was ever paid out.
This is not the first time Mayolas and Bandji have fallen foul of a Fifa investigation, having received six-month bans in 2015 for breaking rules around gifts and benefits. Mayolas was Fecofoot vice president at the time.
Fecofoot was suspended by Fifa in February last year for political interference, following the Congolese government’s dismissal of Mayolas.
The national team was forced to forfeit two 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Zambia and Tanzania.
The ban was lifted in May after certain conditions were met, including the return of full control of the federation’s headquarters and other facilities to Fecofoot’s executive committee.
