Fawzi Lekjaa chooses a “scorched earth” policy – New Algeria

It seems that Moroccan Faouzi Lakjaa, Vice President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has chosen a “scorched earth” policy, by boycotting the meeting of the Executive Office of the Continental Football Association, held yesterday, Friday, in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam.

The meeting of the Executive Office of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), held yesterday, Friday, in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, witnessed a severe earthquake due to the intervention of many members in the discussion following a state of anger over what is happening within the football body in the recent period, especially after the conclusion of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the crises that followed, most notably the events of the final of Morocco and Senegal and the disciplinary sanctions that were issued in the past few days.

It seems that “CAF” is on its way to the beginning of a phase of change due to the anger of many members to the extent of the absence of several prominent members from the meeting, most notably from Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, Cameroon, Liberia, Congo, and Gabon, the majority of whom were content to attend via video lecture technology, such as the President of the Insular Football Federation, Walid Sadi, while the President of the Moroccan League, Faouzi Lekjaa, was absent from the meeting, in addition to Secretary-General Veron Mosingo Omba.

CAF President Patrice spoke MotsepeFor four hours, only one point was discussed since the beginning of the meeting, which is the evaluation of the “Cannes 2025” finals in Morocco, despite the fact that 10 important points were recorded on the agenda, according to the “Cannes 2025” website. winwin“The Qatari.”

The same sports website explained that, according to sources from within CAF, Motsepe was confused several times and was unable to conduct the meeting and talk about all the points due to the interventions of some members who expressed their dissatisfaction with many of the things that are happening, especially with regard to the referees and Secretary-General Veron Mosengo Omba.

A number of members defined their demands and said explicitly: “We want reforms in the General Secretariat, dissolving the Referees Committee, removing its chairman and members, and stopping making individual decisions without discussing them in official meetings.”

Veron followed Fawzi Lakkaa’s approach

Winwin stated that he had learned from his sources that CAF Secretary-General Veron was absent from the meeting due to a “family circumstance,” and this did not prevent many members from demanding his dismissal and departure from his position, while Motsepe defended him in the face of the anger of the audience.

As for arbitration, a number of members offered to dismiss the Referees Committee due to the catastrophic errors and organizational and technical problems the committee is witnessing, while the Congolese Safari, Chairman of the Referees Committee, spoke, saying that he wants to appoint a technical director for the Referees Committee in the coming period, after a decision was taken not to continue the financial position, Mamadou Haidara, adding that he also wants to seek expertise to work on the committee and appoint a competent person to the position of director of the Referees Committee.

During the Chairman of the Referees Committee’s speech, some members attacked him and interrupted him several times until he stopped speaking, and he was blamed for speaking in the media, even though he had a duty of discretion and not to make any press or media statements at that sensitive time.

Amid this tense atmosphere, Motsepe was forced to end the meeting and go to the press conference, as there was no talk about the African Women’s Championship, which is threatened with postponement or transfer to another country in light of the lack of clarity regarding Morocco’s position on hosting. Likewise, there was no talk about the position of the rest of the tournaments until 2037, as it was written on the agenda.

After the end of the meeting, the CAF President announced in a press conference that all the reports about the lack of readiness of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and the postponement of the 2027 African Cup are incorrect and that the three countries are ready to host the tournament. The CAF President added that there is a tendency to increase the number of teams in the next editions of the African Cup from 24 to 28 teams.