Champions League: who is behind the ambitious Djiboutian club Arta Solar?
An Arta Solar player (left) during the game against Tusker FC.
© Courtesy of CAF
Text by: Ndiasse Sambe Follow
3 min
Djiboutian club Arta Solar, in the race for a qualification in the second round of the Champions League, detonates in Africa with the recruitments of former internationals such as Cameroonians Alexander Song and Carlos Kameni.
Proof of the growing ambition of its president and owner, the intriguing Tommy Tayoro Nyckoss.
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On Saturday 11 September, left-hander Alain Traoré remembered his fans and followers with a nice free kick slammed into the goals of Kenyan club Tusker FC.
A superb equalizer for the Burkinabè international who wears the jersey of the Djiboutian club Arta Solar in this match counting for the first round of the Champions League (1-1).
The surprise can be great to see Alain Traoré, about fifty selections with Burkina, finalist of the CAN in 2013 with the Stallions, passed by Auxerre and Monaco, find himself at 32 years old in a Djiboutian formation.
But for Arta Solar supporters and for those who have been following this club that has been making people talk in the Horn of Africa for a while, the presence of Traoré is only the confirmation of an ambition already declared a year ago. .
It was during the signing of the Cameroonian international Alexandre Song, passed by Arsenal and Barcelona in particular.
Ivorian Salomon Kalou in the sights
It was the first thunderclap of Arte Solar, a club that plays in a country, never qualified for a CAN, and 182nd in the world in the last Fifa ranking.
The signatures of Carlos Kameni, Cameroonian international goalkeeper, and Diafra Sakho, Senegalese international passed through Rennes, will follow, and that of Salomon Kalou (ex-Lille, Chelsea) long hoped for.
It does not take more for the questions and eyes to arise on Arta Solar, double holder of the Djibouti Cup and defending champion.
The answers focus on one man: Tommy Tayoro Nyckoss, president and owner of the club since 2018. On his website, he describes himself as a
“serial entrepreneur.
Of Franco-Ivorian origin and settled in Djibouti for a few years
”.
The president of Arte Solar is "
present in several sectors such as aviation (a private jet company, Editor's note), renewable energies, sport or even telecommunications
". What Tommy Tayoro Nyckoss does not mention in his biography on the site are his intimate links with the President of the Republic of Djibouti for more than 22 years, Ismaël Omar Guelleh, since he is the husband of Fatouma-Awa, the eldest daughter of the Djiboutian head of state.
🌞🇩🇯 What "Solar" money can buy ...
Djiboutian club AS Arta have assembled a star-studded club that includes Alex Song, Alain Traoré & Diafra Sakho.
They are owned by renewable energy giants Solar 7, who envision that Arta will "rise to the level" of Mazembe & Tunis in 10 years.
pic.twitter.com/HE8yAN2I05
- African Insider (@African_Insider) September 11, 2021
"
Pivotal personality of the Guelleh clan
"
The president of Arat Solar would thus be very involved in the affairs of the Guelleh clan.
In October 2018, he himself was cited in an investigation opened in France after the filing of a complaint by the NGO Sherpa and the European collective of the Djiboutian diaspora (CEDD) "
for abuse of social assets, embezzlement of public funds, abuse trust and bribery of foreign public officials against members of the entourage of the President of Djibouti ”.
In the document from the NGO Sherpa, taken up by AFP, it is written that Tommy Tayoro Nyckoss "
seems to be a pivotal, central personality in the implementation of operations carried out for years by the family of Ismaïl Omar Guelleh for the purpose of embezzling public assets
.
"
Today, the son-in-law of Guelleh is far from being worried by justice and continues to dream bigger for his club.
Arta Solar intends to continue his ascent, but he will have to overcome the pitfall of Tusker FC this Saturday 18 September for the second leg of the first preliminary round of the Champions League.
Champions League: the results of the preliminary round first leg
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