A MEDIA officer banned by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) for five years for “indecent conduct” during an ongoing tournament in Algeria has denied wrongdoing.
Beninois journalist Felix Peperipe, who was working for Caf at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in the north African nation, was suspended on Monday.
Peperipe said that Caf’s ruling that he had tried to kiss a woman working at the tournament is “false”.
An investigation by Caf’s Disciplinary Committee found him guilty of “violating the Caf statutes and of indecent conduct”.
“I am truly disappointed by what is happening at Caf and more specifically by the disciplinary committee,” he told BBC Sport Africa from his home in Benin.
Caf’s ruling is clear about its suspension of Peperipe, who had been working in the city of Constantine and who has worked for the African football body, as well as global body Fifa, for the last five years.
“The gentleman in question was found guilty by the Disciplinary Committee of violating the Caf statutes and of indecent conduct and a sanction banning him from all Caf competitions for five years was imposed,” Caf Disciplinary Committee president Raymond Hack told BBC Sport Africa.
The Caf decision ruled that Peperipe had tried to kiss a woman referred to as victim ‘X’, who BBC Sport Africa understands to be a Moroccan woman working in VAR in Algeria on 19 January, shortly after which a second complaint come through.
“The perpetrator asked [victim ‘X’] to come in to collect [tickets] allowing her team to access the stadium,” Caf’s ruling stated.
