MOISE KATUMBI, the Congolese multi-millionaire businessman
and politician, has come out guns blazing saying allegations he bribed Zimbabwe
goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze, to influence the outcome of the AFCON Group A match
last Sunday, are false, ridiculous and a work of fiction created by a
Madagascan newspaper.
He has engaged one of Belgium’s largest law firms, Altius,
to try and clear his name and has provided CAF with evidence, including a copy
of his passport, to show that he wasn’t in Egypt — as alleged by Madagascar
newspaper La Gazette de la Grande — at the time he is alleged to have
orchestrated the shady deal.
The businessman said while he attended the 2019 AFCON
opening ceremony, at the invitation of CAF and went on to watch the match
between the DRC and Uganda, he flew back to Belgium on the very day the
Congolese lost to the Cranes 0-2, a day after the tournament started. Katumbi
said his reaction was provoked by a flood of stories, which were sourced from
the first article published by La Gazette de la Grande, which have been
appearing on various news outlets across the continent and challenged CAF,
through their secretary-general Hajji Mouad, to provide a statement that clears
his name.
He also revealed he will be taking legal action against La
Gazette de la Grande, and all the media outlets that appeared to suggest he was
involved in any shady dealing during the 2019 AFCON finals, and said
journalists who were feeding off the frenzy, without backing their articles
with evidence, were also bringing the reputation of AFCON into disrepute.
“Journalists who invent grotesque #CAN2019 match corruption
cases discredit their profession,’’ he tweeted. “Sad, I was not in Egypt when
they ‘saw me the day before the match.’ I am a sports lover who always defends
merit & fairness!’’
His lawyers said during his time here, for the opening
ceremony and the opening match between the Congolese and the Ugandans, Katumbi
didn’t even have any interaction with players or officials from his national
team and neither did he, at any stage, visit them at their team hotel. The
Congolese were sharing the same hotel with the Warriors.
Although Chipezeze had a shocker of a performance in the
match, which the Congolese won 4-0, his teammates have rallied around him and
on Thursday challenged those who were questioning his integrity, and by
extension their integrity, to provide irrefutable evidence which could be
gathered from CCTV footage at their Cairo hotel showing that, indeed, something
fishy happened on this tour of duty.
The initial report claimed Katumbi had approached the
goalkeeper at the hotel on the eve of the match.
The lawyers said while La Gazette de la Grande gave a hint,
in their initial report, that there could be some inaccuracies in their article
by concluding that “for now, let’s cross our arms and wait for the outcome of
the CAF emergency investigation (and) an emergency investigation, if it has
taken place, hopefully, will lead to good news for the Barea and not ‘fake
news’ for Madagascar,’’ the subsequent flood of articles across the continent
didn’t leave that element of doubt. The “emergency committee meeting’’ which
the Madagascar newspaper alleged was being conducted by CAF, to deal with the
issue, was never held and the continent’s football governing authorities never
launched an investigation related to the issue and reports that the DRC were set
to be thrown out of the tournament have since proved to be false.
DRC will take on Madagascar in a Round of 16 match in
Alexandria tomorrow and CAF unveiled their training programme on Thursday and
also released a digital promotion of the match in yet another demonstration
that they were not investigating the Congolese.
“On July 3, 2019, an article was published by the Malagasy
newspaper La Gazette de la Grande entitled ‘CAN 2019: High risk of
disqualification for the Barea’s opponents,’’’ the Belgian lawyers representing
Katumbi said in their letter to the CAF secretary-general.
“In view of the content of this article, and as a
preliminary point, it is clear that this is a totally biased fictionalised
narrative and not a journalistic work. Indeed, the article makes serious
accusations against Mr Katumbi while systematically employing the conditional
(that is to say without any evidence) while the Malagasy journalist seems
mainly to hope that his nation can play – following groundless accusations –
Zimbabwe rather than the DRC in the eighth final (see even be directly
qualified for the next stage).
“The aforementioned allegations were then taken up
throughout the continental Press — which no longer bothered to use the
conditional — without any reaction from the CAF.
“Mr Katumbi formally denounces these false accusations, Mr
Katumbi would also like to point out that at the time of the alleged facts, he
had already left Egypt and was, therefore, physically unable to approach any
player. His passport confirms it, a copy of it is attached.
“Mr Katumbi arrived in Egypt the day before the opening
match as (a) guest (during this match) of the CAF, both as a member of the CAN
Organising Committee and president of TP Mazembe, (one of the top five African
clubs.
“Just after the opening match, Mr Katumbi decided to attend
the DRC’s first match against Uganda. Immediately, after this match, Monsieru
Katumbi left Egypt to return to Brussels. Even with the DRC players, Mr Katumbi
did not have any contact. Such a presentation once again demonstrates the
absurd and untruthful nature of the allegations. Such accusations, against a
man whose integrity has always been praised on the continent, is defamatory and
seriously undermines the honour and reputation of Mr. Katumbi.’’
The Belgian lawyers then threw a direct challenge to CAF.
“Therefore, my client requires CAF to publicly confirm that no internal
investigation has been opened against Mr Katumbi,’’ Gregory Ernes, a Belgian
lawyer, wrote.
“In addition, Mr Katumbi requires that CAF act promptly to
punish the affiliates, or other members, behind this defamation. Here, my
client wants an investigation to be done in a completely transparent way.
“Finally, I inform you that criminal actions for defamation
will be filed against anyone who contributed to the dissemination of this false
information. Certainly, the journalists,
as well as the editions who peddled these lies, will be quoted before the
competent Courts and Tribunals with the aim of washing the honour and the
unfailing reputation of my client.
“In this regard, a copy of this letter is already addressed
to the Malagasy newspaper.’’
Altius describe themselves “as one of the largest Belgian
independent law firms, consisting of approximatively 65 lawyers, established in
Brussels, Antwerp, and Louvain-la-Neuve, we advise Belgian and international
companies on the legal aspects of their transactions and disputes.
“We help our clients navigate through often-complex
legislation and regulatory environments and provide clear solutions to a wide
range of legal issues.’’ Herald
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