From left to right, the Senegalese Minister of Sports, the President of the African Judo Union and Marien Ikama.
A situation that could not be more abstruse? For any follower of hyperbolic formulas, it would be worth the effort to describe the atmosphere that currently prevails within the Congolese Federation of Judo and Associated Disciplines (FECOJUDA). It is indeed difficult to know who of Marien Ngouabi Ikama and Neyl Francis Ata Asiokara is the legitimate president of the highest body of judo in Congo. And if legitimacy is obtained at the institutional level, Francis Ata has the full support of national authorities.
« Since September 4, 2021, during an elective general assembly, the Congolese Federation of Judo and associated disciplines (FECOJUDA) elected a new executive board chaired by Master Ata Asiokara Neyl Francis under the supervision of the Congolese National Olympic Sports Committee (CNOSC) and the ministry in charge of sports “, wrote in note N° 0156 of February 1, 2022, Hugues Ngouelondelé, Congolese Minister of Youth, Sports.
Long before the Ministry of Sports, the CNOSC had already sounded the alarm through a letter sent to international Olympic committees. “ I inform you, so that you sensitize the judo federations of your respective countries, so that they stop collaborating with an illegal president who allows himself in particular to engage athletes in competitions abroad “wrote last December, Raymond Ibata, president of the CNOSC.
National or international credibility?
The reaction of the CNOSC and the Congolese government stems from the invalidation at the end of May by the Sport Conciliation and Arbitration Chamber (CCAS) of the results of the general assembly
elective of February 17 which had renewed Marien Ngouabi Ikama at the head of Congolese judo.
The new election ordered by the CCAS was won on September 4 by Neyl Francis Ata Asiokara. Thus, given that Marien Ngouabi Ikama ” continues to claim active chairman (de la FECOJUDA, editor’s note)”, Minister Ngouelondelé had no other options than to resort to his colleagues to crack down. ” Faced with this usurpation of title, I will be grateful to you for the measures you will take to put an end to this situation which does not honor our country, in particular at the borders. “, recommended the head of the sports department.
However, it is abroad that the legality of the election of Neyl Francis Ata Asiokara poses a problem. Especially at the level of the International Judo Federation (IJF). ” The documents that the IFJ received concerning the election of Mr. Atta were not complete. The IJF informed the country’s sporting authorities of this by letter and this was clarified again to Mr. Atta during an interview which took place on December 6 during the Grand Slam in Paris, by the President of the African Judo Union, Mr. Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, Mr. Meridja, 1st Vice-President of the AJU and Mr. Azzoug, Chief of Staff of the AJU “, explains Michel Huet, assistant to the secretary general of the IJF in an email conversation.
A long-standing crisis
And so far, it is what Congolese journalists call “the Ikama wing” which represents Congo at international competitions. As was the case during the Grand Slam de Paris which took place from February 5 to 6, in the French capital. For more than five years, Congolese judo has been experiencing an unprecedented crisis. And it is almost the same protagonists who struggle to tune their violins. This, despite crisis resolution initiatives such as the standardization committee set up in 2019.
And when will the epilogue of this interminable crisis come to an end? Hard to know. However, this affair could give rise to a lively debate around many themes, including the interference of governments in the affairs of federations and the primacy of international laws and bodies over local texts and bodies. And on the press side, the controversy, although still timid, is gradually becoming clearer
between colleagues on social networks. But so far without passion.
