Fifa permitted a member of its ruling council to join a summit via video link despite him being in prison accused of embezzlement.
Other members of the 37-strong Fifa Council in Bangkok were surprised to see Mamatou Touré, a senior figure in African football and the head of the Mali football association Femafoot, joining the meeting on Wednesday remotely. He is in jail in Bamako, the country’s capital, awaiting trial on charges of embezzling public funds.
It is understood that Fifa were told Touré was making the video call from a clinic and not a prison cell.
Touré, 66, was indicted in August by the Malian government for “attacking public property as well as forgery and use of forgery and complicity”. He has denied the allegations and in September was re-elected as the president of the Mali FA by 61 votes to one — he was the only candidate.
The Guardian reported in September that the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, wrote to Touré to congratulate him on his re-election, thanking him for “all your efforts, your work and your important contribution to the development of our sport and the promotion of its values in Mali, Africa and in the world”. It was later described as a “standard letter of congratulation”.