Mauritian football is bonkers.
From players wearing different kits in a game and a sordid case of voyeurism … to #Mauritius now on the verge of being suspended by FIFA.
This is the badshit crazy world of the Mauritius Football Association 🧵
Mauritius Football Association (MFA) is football's governing body.
In 2013 its president was accused of match fixing. He went on gardening leave but denied wrongdoing.
Incredibly, he threatened to keep attending international meetings. Maybe he enjoyed the free flights?
That same year, MFA got a new president.
A full decade later, Mauritius' men's team is ranked 180th in the world. Women's team is dead last!
Bloke is still Mr MFA Prez. (Although some will contest this but more on that later.)
How he's still prez beggars belief ⬇️
In 2019, FIFA fined a local club half a million rupees for failure to follow transfer regulations.
The club bought four players from Madagascar but didn't register then appropriately.
Guess who sits on the club's committee? Yup, Mr MFA Prez.
Only gets worse from here ⬇️
In 2020, national futsal team was left stranded in Western Sahara because MFA had no money to fly them back.
The team was participating in the Africa Futsal Cup of Nations. Then Mauritius withdrew.
MFA emailed South Africa begging for money. Mauritius got barred for 8 years.
In 2021, @guardian broke a story about a mobile phone in women's toilets on MFA premises.
MFA set up a fact-finding committee which failed to find the guilty party.
The MFA employee who filed charges (and her husband, also an MFA employee) have seen been dismissed.
Last year, Mauritius' men's team went to Nepal for a friendly.
Mauritius made a mockery of itself by wearing two different kits (one with "Mauritius", another with "Maurice" on the back).
Oh, Nepal beat us, winning their first home friendly since 2011.
(Tweet: @SaschaDueerkop)
With such mismanagement, I guess it's no wonder that Mauritian football is at one of its lowest points ever.
We're so bad that we have to play a qualifier to qualify for the qualifiers of the African Cup of Nations.
And guess what? We can't even win that!
Mauritius lost to Sao Tome, a country of 1/6th our population and 1/20th our GDP.
If you think that's the pinnacle of shame, well …
After the game, MFA lodged a complaint on a small technicality to try to get San Tome disqualified.
It failed … which shouldn't surprise you.
Sports minister, presumably beyond exasperated by the MFA, has now fired the entire MFA executive team, including Mr MFA Prez.
But that's gov interference in a FIFA-affiliated federation which means …
… FIFA is now threatening to suspend Mauritius!
By law, sports minister has power to fire exec team of any sports fed and appoint a temp one.
This goes against FIFA and Olympic Committee rules (which say gov can't interfere).
But when law was amended to give sports minister such power, guess who backed it? Yup, Mr MFA Prez!
Mr MFA Prez told @lexpressmaurice that the amended Sports Act "poses no problems".
BEFORE ADDING: "FIFA doesn't really like government interference … we will soon write to [FIFA] asking them to turn a blind eye on the Sports Act"
So Mr MFA Prez apparently asked FIFA to turn a blind eye on the Sports Act.
But when the Sports Act is then used to depose him, what does he do?
He goes running to FIFA complaining about the same Sports Act!
Someone once said that the Mauritius Football Association (MFA) is a state within a state.
Funded in part by FIFA so only semi-accountable to gov.
Result: maja karo! (i.e. execs having a great time doing whatever they want with little impunity)
(Photo: prezs of sports feds)
Oh, please marvel at our national football stadium.
Stade George-V is unlike any national stadiums in the world. It has potholes, which have to be filled with rock sand.
And it transforms into a swimming pool when it rains.
The stadium that was renovated in 2003. I despair.
Been looking increasingly likely that Mr MFA Prez was going to win his battle against Sports minister.
Now confirmed. Another ten years for Mr MFA Prez then 🫣
Sources:
lexpress.mu/article/419706…
lemauricien.com/sports/statuts…
5plus.mu/actualite/gouv…
lexpress.mu/article/420150…
lemauricien.com/featured/futsa…
lemauricien.com/sports/footbal…
theguardian.com/football/2021/…
lexpress.mu/article/298756…
footballghana.com/fifa-sanctions…
Some more info about the voyeurism affair
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