FIFA has taken the decision to lift the sanction for non-payments to Equatorial Guineawhich she herself imposed, allowing her men’s team to participate in the draw for the group stage of the African Football Confederation (CAF) for the 2026 World Cup to be held this Friday in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), as El Periódico de España, from the Prensa Ibérica group, has learned.
Equatorial Guinea was punished with this sanction in February 2022 after verifying that the country’s federation (FEGUIFUT) had not paid for five years a debt of a total of more than two million euros contracted with the Spanish coaches Esteban Becker and José Antonio Pozanco. After several payment orders from the TAS and from FIFA itself that were never fulfilled, the highest soccer body applied this sanction, which it now lifts without the two technicians having yet seen a single euro.
An alleged agreement that does not exist
FIFA’s argument for making this decision, just the day before the draw, is based on a letter sent by the Equatoguinean Vice Minister of Youth and Sports, Pedro Nguemain which he assures that FEGUIFUT and the two Spanish coaches have reached a “consensus agreement” for the payment of the debt. A non-existent agreement, as explained to this newspaper by a representative of Becker and Pozanco.
FIFA has not only not verified with them the veracity of this alleged agreement, but has accepted the version of Equatorial Guinea as good without detailing the times or forms of payment. It is simply collected that the Government of the country assumes a first payment of one million dollars (without saying how or when it will be carried out) and that “the remaining debt will be paid through FEGUIFUT funds at FIFA”.
Despite the uncertainty about the presumed future payments and the lack of verification of the agreement with those affected, FIFA reported this Thursday that FEGUIFUT “has provided reliable evidence that the amounts owed to Becker and Pozanco will be paid”for which he decides to “provisionally lift” his sanction of prohibiting the participation of his men’s team in the 2026 World Cup.
Becker and Pozanco have formally addressed FIFA to show your disagreement with this decision, given that they have not yet collected the money that FEGUIFUT owes them for six years. So far, they have not received a response, according to the information available to this newspaper.
six years of struggle
FEGUIFUT’s debt with Becker and Pozanco originated in 2017, when there was a change of leaders in the Government of Teodoro Obiang and in the federation itself and both are abruptly dismissed with about two years to go with a current contract.
The two Spanish coaches ended up demanding payment from FIFA, which agrees with their claims, forcing FEGUIFUT to settle the debt. He Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), to which the African federation resorts, endorses the payment obligation formulated by FIFA.
Just 10 days ago, the new president of FEGUIFUT, Venancio Tomás Ndong, had publicly promised to resign from his position if Equatorial Guinea was not in the World Cup qualifying draw, putting pressure on his government to assume the debt.
Their repeated non-compliance led the institution chaired by Gianni Infantino to exclude them, in February 2023, from the World Cup. Sanction that they now lift without not a single euro has reached the pockets of Becker and Pozanco.
2023-07-12 19:15:14
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