On Wednesday, August 9, several key figures in Malian sports were detained, including Mamoutou Touré, known as "Bavieux" and the president of the Malian Football Federation (FÉMAFOOT) since August 2019. Issiaka Sidibé, the former president of the Assemblée Nationale (from January 2014 to May 2020) and also the former head of AS Real Bamako, one of the country's top clubs, was also arrested, alongside Modibo Sidibé, secretary general of the Assemblée Nationale and the National Transitional Council (CNT), and Demba Traoré and Anfa Kalfa, former accountant and financial controller of the Assemblée Nationale respectively.
The five men had been summoned by an examining magistrate from cabinet number 9 at the economic and financial division of the court in Commune III of the Bamako district. After questioning them, the magistrate informed them of their indictment "for offenses against public property as well as for forgery and complicity," and their immediate placement in pre-trial detention at the Malian capital's central prison. "This was not the first time they had been summoned, as an investigation was already underway," said a source close to the investigation.
The charges relate to the 2013-2019 period, and therefore pre-date Touré's accession to the presidency of FÉMAFOOT. For several years, Touré was the administrative and financial director of the Assemblée Nationale. According to several sources who requested anonymity, the alleged embezzlement amounts to nearly 17 billion CFA francs (nearly €26 million), "for irregular allowances and other expenses. This is the sum circulating in groups close to the investigation," said one of these sources, adding that the five indicted men belonged to Rassemblement pour le Mali (RPM). This is the party of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, who was president from September 2013 to August 2020.
Bavieux's detention comes three weeks ahead of the FÉMAFOOT presidential election scheduled for August 29. The incumbent president is the sole candidate after several other candidacies were invalidated by the electoral commission. In a statement released on Thursday, August 10, FÉMAFOOT lamented that the arrest "follows rumors circulating on social media for over a month, fueled by Touré's opponents."
The federation also reiterated its commitment to "the presumption of innocence," which it said should apply at all times to any suspect, and in this case to Touré. "In Mali, pre-trial detention can last a long time. There are cases of people suspected of corruption who have been languishing in prison for two or three years awaiting trial," said a Malian journalist.
This case comes as Mali's A team has qualified for the next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (from January 13 to February 11, 2024, in Côte d'Ivoire), while the U23 team will take part in the tournament at the Paris Olympics (from July 26 to August 11, 2024).
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.