The Fédération Béninoise de Football (FBF) is the governing body of football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 in Benin

Benin

Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

. It was founded in 1962, affiliated to FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 the same year and to CAF

Confederation of African Football

The Confederation of African Football is the administrative and controlling body for African association football.CAF represents the national football associations of Africa, runs continental, national, and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those...

 in 1969. It organizes the national football leagues, including the Benin Premier League

Benin Premier League

The Benin Premier League, also called Championnat National du Bénin in French, is the highest football division in Benin. The league was delivered in 1969 for the first time. Currently, it is composed by 14 clubs playing a double round-robin tournament. The winner of the Premier League earns a...

, and the national team

Benin national football team

The Benin national football team, nicknamed Les Écureuils , is the national football team of Benin and is controlled by the Fédération Béninoise de Football. They were known as the Dahomey national football team until 1975, when Dahomey became Benin. They have never made the World Cup but have...

.

2010 Africa Cup of Nations fallout

The FBF sacked the entire playing and coaching staff following the Benin national football teams exit from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, citing indiscipline and a lack of patriotism.

The Benin player Razak Omotoyossi

Razak Omotoyossi

Razak Omotoyossi is a Nigerian-born Beninese footballer who plays for Egyptian club Zamalek and also for the Benin national football team....

said that the FBF had tried to 'tarnish' the image of the national team "We are not indisciplined players and they just want to tarnish our image...The truth is the players were fighting for their rights."

Omotoyossi acknowledged that there had been disputes between the players and the FBF but said the squad wanted things to be done properly. Omotoyossi said players had not been receiving their jerseys in time, and with wrong numbers, and that payments of allowances and bonuses to the players were also delayed.

2011 rival presidential bid

A rival group of officials within the FBF elected Victorien Attolou their new president in February 2011. Attolou was elected by a group that claimed president Moucharafou Anjorin was no longer in charge. Twelve of the fifteen member executive committee resigned after accusing Moucharafou of being a dictator. The election was held following the failure by FIFA to resolve the initial dispute between Moucharafou and the officials. Moucharafou stated that "I am unconcerned about the elections held over the weekend because I am still the man in charge of the federation".

FIFA later confrmed that Moucharafou was President of the federation.

Moucharafou arrest

Moucharafou was arrested and arraigned before a court in July 2011 for misappropriation of the FBF's funds. He was accused of embezzling US$650,000 sponsorship money from a mobile phone company between 2008 and 2010. Moucharafou was remanded in custody in prison, pending a trial, for which no date has been set.

External links

• Fédération Béninoise de Football.
• Benin at the FIFA website.
• Benin at CAF Online