It is a scandal that is shaking the sports community in Gabon.

The president of the Gabonese Football Federation (Fégafoot), Pierre Alain Mounguengui, was indicted and placed under arrest warrant in Libreville for "failure to report crimes of pedophilia" in a case of alleged sexual abuse of hundreds of children, his lawyer told AFP on Thursday, May 5.

The scandal, revealed by the British daily The Guardian in December 2021, erupted when Patrick Assoumou Eyi, coach of the national under-17 team until 2017 and a well-known figure in Gabonese football under the nickname " Capello", was imprisoned after being accused of hundreds of rapes and sexual assaults on children for which he was responsible in his functions for several years. 

Patrick Assoumou Eyi was, since 2017 and until his arrest, technical director of the Estuaire football league, the province of the capital, Libreville. 

Since his arrest, two club coaches, Orphée Mickala and Triphel Mabicka, have also been indicted for the same charges and imprisoned.

The three men risk 30 years in prison.

The president of the Federation "contests" the accusation

Pierre Alain Mounguengui, 64, reelected at the end of April to the presidency of Fégafoot (the Gabonese Football Federation), "was indicted for non-denunciation of crimes of pedophilia, which he disputes", indicated to the 'AFP his lawyer, Charles-Henri Gey.

"He has been placed under a warrant of committal and we have requested his provisional release."

"Pierre Alain Mounguengui is accused of having covered the alleged attacks committed by 'Capello'", assured AFP at the end of April Romain Molina, French journalist who had written the investigation in The Guardian. 

>> To read also: Pedophilia in Gabonese football, "an open secret"

“We are delirious, there are currently no identified victims,” said Me Charles-Henri Gey, adding: “This affair is only a pretext for Pierre Alain Mounguengui to no longer be president. of Fégafoot."

Fifa on Tuesday opened a disciplinary investigation targeting the three coaches accused of acts of pedophilia as well as Pierre-Alain Mounguengui.

A "very serious and unacceptable" affair, denounces the President of Gabon 

Gabon's Sports Minister Franck Nguema said in December that Patrick Assoumou Eyi "allegedly abused hundreds of young boys in the course of his duties". 

The scandal then splashed Gabonese taekwondo: Martin Avera, a coach known by the nickname “Master Chaka”, was indicted in Libreville for pedophilia and sexual abuse, and imprisoned in January.

The Gabonese president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, had evoked a "very serious and unacceptable" affair after the questioning of "Capello" and ordered the government to ask the justice to open an investigation in football but also in all national sports federations, to "eradicate potential sexual predators".

With AFP

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