Breaking: Why CAF President Ahmad was arrested

Ahmad Ahmad, the president of the football governing body is trending on social media, following reports that he had been arrested in France on Thursday morning, over allegations of corruption.

Madagascar’s Ahmad, who became president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in March 2017, has been dogged by several organisational scandals, during his two years at the helm.

Reports of Ahmad’s arrest were published by French-based pan-African magazine, Jeune Africa, who said the 59-year-old football administrator had been detained at his hotel in Paris, where he was attending the FIFA Congress.

His arrest by the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offences (Oclif), is reportedly in conection with a contract that CAF terminated with German equipment manufacturer Puma in favor of Technical Steel.

Ahmad is accused of having influenced this decision, standing to be rewarded with up to $830,000. He has denied the allegations.

‘‘All decisions were taken in a collective and transparent manner,” Ahmad said in mid-April.

Reports of Ahmad’s arrest come hardly a day after CAF took a decision to cancel the African Champions League win by Esperance Tunis, and order a replay of the second-leg match against Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca.

The Tunisian club has since denounced Ahmad as incompetent and corrupt, vowing to appeal against the CAF decision with relevant international bodies.