Ex-Congo FA chief Mayolas gets life sentence over FIFA funds case

Former Congo football federation (FECOFOOT) president Jean-Guy Blaise Mayolas has been sentenced to life imprisonment after a court in Brazzaville convicted him of diverting more than US$1m in FIFA funding.The criminal court found Mayolas guilty of offences including money laundering, forgery, use of forged documents and misappropriation of funds, according to reports of the ruling.Mayolas was tried in absentia after failing to appear at the proceedings and his whereabouts were not immediately known, adding an enforcement risk to one of the highest-profile football governance cases in the country.Several associates were also convicted in the same case, including Mayolas’ son, Lionel Mayolas, who received a life sentence and was also tried in absentia.FECOFOOT secretary general Badji Mombo Wantete and treasurer Raoul Kanda were each sentenced to five years in prison for complicity, the reports said.Prosecutors said the diverted funds included around US$500,000 allocated for women’s football under FIFA’s COVID-19 relief programme, with authorities arguing the federation had pledged to use the money to organise women’s competitions and improve infrastructure.Investigators said projects linked to the funds were not delivered, intensifying scrutiny on how global development and relief money is tracked once it reaches national associations.FIFA has said its governance controls include audits designed to ensure funds distributed to member associations are spent appropriately.The sentencing lands against a backdrop of recent governance turbulence between FECOFOOT and the Congolese authorities, with FIFA previously suspending the federation after the government removed Mayolas from office in September 2024, citing third-party interference.At the time, FIFA said: “Fecofoot is suspended with immediate effect due to third-party interference in the federation’s affairs, a particularly serious situation that contravenes Fecofoot’s obligations under FIFA statutes.”The suspension carried sporting consequences, with Congo forfeiting two 2026 World Cup qualifying matches before FIFA lifted the sanction in May 2025.FIFA has said its governance controls include audits designed to ensure funds distributed to member associations are spent appropriately.The case is the latest to highlight the risks around how development and relief funding is tracked at national federation level, particularly where projects are tied to specific delivery commitments.FECOFOOT has faced wider governance turbulence in recent seasons, including a FIFA suspension in 2024 after the government removed Mayolas from office, before the sanction was lifted in May 2025.