Jailed football administrator sets to win Malian FA election from prison cell

Mamatou ‘Bavieux’ Toure, a jailed football administrator, is set to be re-elected as the president of the Malian FA (Femafoot) from his cell.

Mr Toure, currently in prison where he awaits trial on allegations of embezzling funds during his tenure as the financial and administrative director in Mali’s National Assembly, is the sole candidate in Thursday’s election.

He became the only candidate for the federation’s top seat after three other candidates failed to pass an eligibility test, leaving Mr Toure in the ultimate position to be re-elected for another four-year term.

The 66-year-old football administrator passed the eligibility test before his indictment by the Malian government for “attacking public property, as well as forgery and use of forgery and complicity” and looting up to $28 million.

Mr Toure has led Femafoot since 2019 and he is currently a member of both the Fifa Council, the board of football’s world governing body, and the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (Caf).

Ibrahim Ibrahim

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