Head of football in Republic of the Congo accused of embezzling $1.3m of Fifa funds

The president of the Republic of the Congo’s football federation (Fecofoot) has been accused of embezzling $1.3m (£960,000) of Fifa funds, including almost $500,000earmarked for the country’s women’s team.

Jean-Guy Blaise Mayolas may be charged with money laundering and forgery offences after being summoned to attend a hearing in Brazzaville this week. He was arrested at the end of May by the central intelligence and documentation office (CID), a department of the ministry of the interior. Mayolas and Fecofoot’s general secretary, Badji Mombo Wantete, have denied the allegations and described them as a “conspiracy”.

It is alleged that Mayolas, since being elected as president of Fecofoot in 2018, has used a series of shell companies to embezzle funding from world football’s governing body. According to a declaration signed by the presidents of every women’s club in the country’s top flight that was sent to the Congolese authorities in March, only $20,000 of the $500,000 Fifa sent to Fecofoot in 2021 as part of its Covid-19 relief plan was paid out.

Mayolas has also denied claims that he embezzled $800,000 for the national training centre in Ignié, which remains incomplete eight years after it was supposed to be finished and has fallen into a state of disrepair.

“All the funds have been blocked and nothing is happening,” said a source who did not want to be named. “It’s been such a long time and no one understands where the money has gone.”

Mayolas and Wantete did not respond to questions from the Guardian. They were banned for six months by Fifa in 2015 after being found guilty of “offering and accepting gifts and other benefits” when Mayolas was Fecofoot’s vice-president.

Mayolas was suspended by the country’s sports ministry in February after being investigated for fraud. But Fifa stepped in and banned Congo from international football for “third-party interference”, meaning that in March they had to forfeit World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania and Zambia, who were awarded 3-0 victories.

Congo were reinstated in May when Fecofoot was permitted to resume control of its headquarters in Brazzaville, although Mayolas and Wantete were prevented from travelling to Fifa’s congress in Paraguay and arrested a few days later.

It is understood members of Fifa’s ethics committee visited Congo in March to look into claims that Mayolas was embezzling funds but that it has yet to launch a formal investigation. Fifa has declined to comment on the accusations.