The government through the investigation bureau confirmed they will still investigate the federation boss
The Tanzania government have confirmed they have opened investigations to ascertain whether Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) president Wallace Karia mishandled funds from Caf meant for football development in the country.
On Monday, Caf president Ahmad Ahmad was banned for five years by Fifa after being found guilty of breaching ethics codes and it later emerged in Tanzania that the TFF boss had allegedly pocketed $20,000 from Caf to help him run footballing activities.
Despite the TFF defending their boss in a statement, the Tanzania government through the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) Director John Mbungo has confirmed they will investigate the claims from Caf in order to know the truth of the issue.
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“We have already started investigating on the development even though the Tanzania Football Federation [TFF] has written a letter denying any involvement in the saga,” Mbungo is quoted by Daily News.
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“As you know, the misuse of funds, maladministration, and corruption is the responsibility of PCCB to investigate and we cannot just remain quiet without taking any measures whenever we have such information on our table, whether it concerns a public or private entity.
“Immediately after we heard about this development, our team has started to investigate so as to ensure that we get all the required information and let justice prevail.”
On how far they have reached with the investigations about the misuse of funds which were meant for the preparations of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations which Tanzania hosted last year, Mbungo explained: “When the issue is under investigation consists of many people.
“You should definitely expect the entire process to take some time because our job is to let justice emerge and not to implicate innocent people into the concerned issue.
“The Afcon money touched many people and ministries as such, you cannot complete the whole process within a short period of time or else, you can take into account those people who were never involved.
“The misuse of Afcon preparation money is very broad hence we are keenly going into available details in order to allow the rule of law takes its course without favouring anyone.”
On defending Karia over the Caf issue, the TFF said in a statement obtained by Goal: “TFF would like to shed light on the continuing association of its president Wallace Karia to the fund’s misappropriation that has led to the banning of Caf president Ahmad Ahmad.
“The Caf Committee unanimously agreed in May 2017 to give all member associations, including TFF, $100,000 whereby $80,000 dollars was meant for footballing activities with the remaining $20,000 set aside for the presidents to help them run their activities effectively.
“After getting the monies from Caf via TFF account, president Karia opted to use the money for several Federation activities considering the financial challenges TFF was facing,” the statement added.
“There is no money that was deposited in Karia’s personal account.
“Furthermore, the statement from Fifa, to announce the banning of Ahmed, did not mention anything regarding the $20,000 dollars meant for the Caf member association’s presidents.
“Therefore, TFF will not hesitate to take action against any individual who will continue to share false information [against Karia].”
On top of his five-year ban from all football-related activity, the Caf administrator was fined CHF 200,000 (£160,000/$220,000).
