Statement from COSAFA President Artur De Almeida e Silva

Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) President Artur de Almeida e Silva has hailed the governance framework put in place by Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Dr Patrice Motsepe as crucial to the further development of the game on the continent.

CAF confirmed on Thursday it has requested its Audit and Governance Committee to investigate allegations of breach of its internal Governance and Auditing Regulations within the CAF Secretariat.

A reputable international law firm will carry out the investigation into the alleged breach, with Dr Motsepe confirming there is “zero tolerance in CAF for corruption or breaching CAF’s internal governance, audit and transparency regulations or for violating CAF and FIFA Statutes and Regulations”.

COSAFA President Artur believes this process necessary to continue the reform within CAF that has seen the organisation gain the trust of sponsors, partners, African governments and other African and international stakeholders under Dr Motsepe’s leadership.

“This process is important to maintain the integrity of CAF, no matter what the outcome of the investigation,” Artur said. “We cannot allow the excellent strides forward that CAF has made since 2021 to be held back by these types of issues.

“It must be business as usual; we must continue to move onward with the positive advances we have made that has put CAF back on a strong footing and continue the development of the game on our continent.

“We lend our full support to the investigation into these allegations, and whatever the outcome, we will support that in the best interests of CAF, its six zones and the 54 Member Associations.”

Artur says CAF should be commended for the progress made on and off the pitch in the last three years, of which this investigation is another example, and that he and COSAFA pledge their support for President Motsepe and the CAF leadership.

“As painful as this investigation is, it shows CAF will not tolerate corruption and the breach CAF’s internal governance regulations,” he said. “As Dr Motsepe has said, the current culture within CAF of implementing and adhering to global governance, audit, transparency and ethics best practices has already shown positive results with stakeholders.”