Musa Hassan Bility, the banned CAF Exco member from Liberia has indicated this past week that FIFA has successfully applied to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), to be enjoined in the case that he filed against the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Front page of the CAS ruling against Musa Hassan Bility.
The case revolves around an opaque decision concocted by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, CAF President Ahmad Ahmad and FIFA Secretary General (SG) Fatma Samoura for the forcible takeover of CAF affairs by FIFA after CAF President set the organization on a dire financial and political path.
For purposes of media, this forcible takeover of CAF is couched in acceptable language and referred to as the “CAF – FIFA cooperation”.
This forcible takeover is hinged on the installation of FIFA SG Fatma Samoura as the “General Delegate” to run CAF affairs on a fulltime basis for renewable terms of 6-months a piece, indefinitely.
Things took an ominous turn for Musa Bility on 24th July 2019 when the FIFA Ethics Committee banned him from all football activities for a period of 10 years plus a fine of CHF 500,000 for breach of FIFA Code of Ethics during his tenure as President of the Liberian Football Association.
Suspiciously, the judgement by the Adjudicatory Chamber of FIFA Ethics committee was released a day after he formally filed the arbitration case at CAS, despite the fact that the matter had been concluded on 12th February 2019.
It goes without saying that both the ruling and the ban probably would never have seen the light of day had Bility played ball with both CAF and FIFA, and blindly supported the forcible takeover of CAF as envisaged by Infantino, Ahmad and Samoura.
Bility has stated severally elsewhere, that Mattias Grafstrom, Head of FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s personal office, attempted to blackmail him into accepting the forcible takeover of CAF by FIFA and the installation of FIFA SG Fatma Samoura as “General Delegate” for Africa.
Matthias Grafstrom from FIFA office of Infantino who tried to blackmail Bility.
“Mattias gave me a statement to read, asking me to address the media that I was in support of FIFAs involvement in Africa. He threatened me that should I fail to cooperate, I would have to face the consequences,” he told insideworldfootball.
We have all since witnessed for ourselves what those consequences referred to by Grafstrom really are, despite his weak and apathetic denials when contacted about the allegations.
Musa Hassan Bility was always going to be victimized by those inside CAF, which began with his vociferous opposition to the concerted hemorrhaging of $200,000 from CAF to the bank accounts of a Polish Art Dealer in 2017.
The physical address of the Art Gallery where the $200,000 Liberian funds were sent by CAF in Warsaw, Poland.
The Art dealer in question, Rosenbaum Contemporary Sp in Warsaw, shows nil connection with football which itself begs the question as to CAFs internal audit and systems that would allow the bank account of a complete stranger to find its way into the payment systems. CAF does not have core business that would involve an Art gallery.
This money (two tranches of $100,000 each) was the CAF grant meant for the Liberian Football Association (LFA) and who prompted Bility to complain directly to CAF President Ahmad about its disappearance. Ahmad however swatted him and his complaints away leaving him with no recourse but to file a formal complaint with FIFA.
Transfer of LFA money to a Polish Art Gallery’s bank accounts used to launder money for FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
It was this complaint that eventually caused CAF to conduct an internal enquiry which ultimately discovered the Polish connection and fingered the culprits who had quarter-backed the funds transfer.
To date, these culprits remain firmly entrenched at CAF with zero disciplinary or other action taken against them. We can only postulate just how high the entire caper went within the CAF high command and accomplices elsewhere.
The arrival of Farma Samoura to head CAF and spearhead the “cover-up audit” of the accounts more or less seals the fate of those funds permanently, because Samoura is there to conduct an operation that will bury all the financial misdeeds of her lover Ahmad and boss Infantino, both whom would be compromised by the true findings of a clean audit.
The FIFA Ethics investigations into alleged crimes against Bility, from his era as LFA President appear to have commenced around about this time when he brought up the missing $200,000.
Apparently, FIFA has no qualms using its Ethics committee to blackmail African football leaders into toeing the official line.
CAF President Ahmad already has on-going FIFA Ethics investigations dating back to when he received bribes from disgraced former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohammed Bin Hamman. This bribery case has already taken down many football officials, yet Ahmad appears to have an invisible force-field around him which immunizes him from sanction, and which is guaranteed by the 100% control Gianni Infantino has over his Ethics committee.
Ahmad and his female guest when they travelled to the Bin Hamman bribe-fest in 2008 in Kuala Lumpur.
Regardless the opposition to it from a few brave African Football officials, and the filing of the case at CAS, Fatma Samoura has already reported to and taken over the secretariat at CAF HQ in Cairo.
The worst fears of every sober and rational football stakeholder in Africa were confirmed last week when in her first act in the role of “General Delegate” for Africa, Fatma Samoura wrote to all African Presidents of Football Associations asking them to sign an irrevocable legal mandate, handing over all commercial and media rights to FIFA for the main World Cup competitions until 2026.
Mandate forcibly-requiring all 54 CAF members to sign away their commercial and media rights to FIFA within 7 days, failure to which FA Presidents would face “dire consequences” including FIFA bans as relayed by Matthias Grafstrom and Veron Mosengo-Omba.
The Infantino-Ahmad-Samoura trio did not even allow her presence in Africa to marinate among the football stakeholders before showing their hand and hard-nosed interest in the sale of global football rights to Middle-East interests, beginning with the soft target – African Football Associations.
African FA Presidents on their parts are either too greedy, looking to receive the occasional brown envelopes availed to them by CAF aficionados to vote against their own interests or they are so tainted by their mindless looting of FIFA grants, that they are easily blackmailed into voting along the lines that this axis of evil (Infantino –Ahmad – Samoura) want.
Just a few weeks ago, it came to light that Infantino has caused the Swiss AG Michael Lauber and his 2 deputies to be compelled to recuse themselves from all FIFA related investigations and prosecutions by the Swiss Courts.
This followed an application by former FIFA SG Jerome Valcke who stated that it had come to light that Infantino and Lauber had had 3 unauthorized and undocumented meetings whose agenda remains secret.
When the meetings first came to light, Lauber only acknowledged the existence of 2 such meetings before investigation by Journalists compelled him to acknowledge the existence of a 3rdencounter.
It is these new revelations, coupled with the unprecedented application by FIFA to be enjoined in the CAS case, that have caused plenty of disquiet in legal circles both in Africa and Europe.
It has been deduced that Infantino views himself as a consummate and inveterate schemer, borne of both his Sicilian and Swiss heritages which give him a sense of “manifest destiny” regarding where he should direct football in the World.
The Swiss heritage assures him of his ability to connive, the same conniving which allowed the country and its people to wave the flag of neutrality during the 2nd World War while doing brisk banking business with both sides, as millions were slaughtered all around them. It takes a special kind of crazy to be able to rationalize that in business terms!
But the Swiss have continued on this tangent over the post-war years by accepting to bank money from the most monstrous leaders from around the World, who looted and pillaged their own countries in order to be able to purchase the fleetingly utopic Swiss dream.
You just need to follow the handle dictator watch which would chronicle the flights landing at various airports from 3rd World “shitholes” to deliver money into super secret Swiss banking system.
In June this year, Swiss police had to use force to repel over 250 protesters outside the Intercontinental Geneva Hotel. The protesters had come to show their opposition to the presence of Cameroonian President Paul Biya, who has made the hotel his permanent home, and where he liberally squanders Billions of Francs in order to live this otherwise surreal life.
Cameroon President Paul Biya with his wife Chantelle who have made the Intercon Geneva their home.
In the meantime, the Cameroonian National Football team (The Indomitable Lions) have continued their unhindered freefall in standards, in contrast to their stellar performances at the World Cup Italia 1990.
Would it therefore be far-fetched to infer that Gianni Infantino would go ahead and attempt to interfere with the outcome of the case at the CAS? Surely, for a man who would attempt to influence Swiss courts processes by inappropriately engaging a Swiss AG and his deputies, what of a mere Court of Arbitration?
Infantino reminds us of a student who cannot get through University without cheating in his exams and plagiarizing other people’s work, yet wants to live the full college life of extreme freedom.
Unsolicited legal advice from lawyers and pundits (of good conscience) from all over the World continue to pour in, advising Musa Bility not to expect much in terms of balance and fairness from the CAS.
Who me? Gianni Infantino who appears able to compromise any Swiss National in high office.
The first ruling that indicated how things are expected to go in this case was how CAS allowed FIFA to be enjoined in this matter, considering that CAF are not members of FIFA. Further, FIFA have always sought NEVER to be enjoined in cases involving even their own bonafide members, which they tried to avoid like the proverbial plague.
So the question on everyone’s lips is, why in this case? What is so special about CAF that FIFA would gladly set aside any semblance of partiality and cast its lot in to forcibly takeover an organization that has the capacity to run itself as a going-concern?
Emilio García Silvero, FIFA head of the Legal Division and who has in the past refused to be enjoined in a members case until now.
Of most concern to European journalists and pundits following this case, is the ominous behind-the-scenes presence of Sports Lawyer Michele Bernasconi who is also an arbitrator for the CAS.
They point to his long history with UEFA, especially during the Infantino years, where he was a Co-Director of the UEFA Football Law Programme. Ominously, he also served as a member of the Saudi Arabian Sport Arbitration Center.
Celebrated Sports Lawyer Michele Bernasconi and Infantino hatchet-man inside CAS.
This Saudi Arabian connection is important here because the World of football is currently in the infantino-induced throes of confusion wrought about by his plan to sell off global football to the Saudis piece-by-piece, beginning obviously with Africa.
Being an eminent Sports Lawyer and personal friend of Gianni Infantino, it can be theorized that he might even be involved in the drafting of such agreements and amendment of the FIFA Laws, sometimes skewed to defeat the progress of the game.
Bernasconi is regarded as the door Infantino would use into CAS, where he would leverage upon another Swiss National in the upper echelons of CAS – Mathieu Reeb – who has been CAS Secretary General for many years.
CAS SG Matthieu Reeb and key contact for Michele Bernasconi in tampering with FIFA cases.
It would be interesting to find out what role Reeb played in the acceptance of FIFA application to be enjoined in the Bility case against CAF.
However, this is where the arbitration process sometime becomes very dicey!
- Under the appeals procedure, each party chooses an arbitrator, and the president of the panel is selected by the President of the Appeals Arbitration Division.
- If the parties agree, or if the CAS deems this appropriate, a sole arbitrator may be appointed, depending on the nature and importance of the case.
- The arbitrators must be independent, that is to say have no particular connection with any of the parties, and must not have played any role in the case in question.
So much for the independence of the arbitrators in this case, especially if its true that the process has been interfered with by Infantino, the same way he has done with his own (non-indepndent) Ethics committee and the Swiss AG/Prosecutor.
We would wager that both FIFA and CAF (now both parties to the suit filed by Bility) would choose the revered Michele Bernasconi to be their Arbitrator, while Matthieu Reeb would be expected to influence who would be selected by CAS to become the Chairman (President) of the panel.
Truly, Musa Hassan Bility is a lamb whose case is being decided upon by a jury of Swiss Lions (Infantino – Reeb- Bernasconi).
Depending on how the cookie crumbles, he has a snow-ball’s chance in hell of emerging victorious at this CAS!
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[…] of August 2019, the private aide to Infantino had already pulled me apart to warn me that I faced the resuscitation of a dead-rubber ethics case, which was shortly activated by the co-dependent Fifa Ethics Committee and which led to my current […]