By Desire Emmanuel with Agency Reports
Jean-Guy Blaise Mayolas, president of the Congo-Brazzaville Football Federation, alongside his wife and son, was on Tuesday, March 10, sentenced to life imprisonment, Yahoo Sports reported.
Jean-Guy Blaise Mayolas received the life sentence from the country’s judiciary following a sweeping corruption scandal tied to the federation’s financial management. The FECOFOOT chief was found guilty of money laundering, embezzlement and forgery.
Though absent from the hearing, he was convicted and handed a life sentence. The same sentence was also given to his wife and son.
According to case files, he was notably accused of embezzling nearly $1.3 million in FIFA funds.
The judgment handed down indicated that he was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme that siphoned off more than a million dollars from FIFA funding.
These funds, allocated notably during the COVID-19 pandemic, were meant to foster women’s football and build a new training centre.
Investigations revealed that the money was funneled through various companies and used for illegal purposes.
These verdicts bring to a close eight months of investigation, during which authorities claim to have uncovered a fraudulent management system at the very heart of FECOFOOT.
