The president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe, has opposed allegations of corruption levelled by Senegal’s government following the body’s shock decision to strip Senegal of its Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) crown and award the title to Morocco.
Speaking in Rabat on Thursday, Motsepe insisted CAF had acted transparently and welcomed scrutiny.
“If anybody wants to initiate legal action alleging that there is corruption in CAF I don’t only welcome that, I encourage them.
“There’s nothing to hide. We respect enormously the judicial and legal sovereignty of every single one of our 54 nations on the African continent,” he said.
It would be recalled that the controversy stems from CAF’s ruling to overturn Senegal’s 1-0 victory over Morocco in the AFCON final on 18 January.
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The governing body later recorded a 3-0 win for Morocco, citing regulations after Senegalese players, coach Pape Thiaw and his staff walked off the pitch in protest at a late penalty decision.
Morocco’s Brahim Diaz missed the spot-kick, but CAF deemed Senegal’s actions a breach of competition rules.
Senegal’s Football Federation had lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), while the Senegalese government has called for an international probe into CAF, alleging corruption.
Motsepe said CAF would respect any ruling from CAS: “I’m confident that whatever the decision of CAS will say, we will respect it and we will implement it.”