The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, has congratulated Mamatou Touré on his re-election as the president of the Malian football federation (Femafoot) despite him being accused of embezzling public funds after being arrested last month, the Guardian can reveal.
Touré – who is also a member of the influential Fifa council – is in prison in Bamako as he awaits trial after being indicted on 9 August by the Malian government for “attacking public property as well as forgery and use of forgery and complicity”. The 66-year-old has denied the allegations and was successfully re-elected last week by 61 votes to one after an extraordinary general assembly, having been the only candidate whose filing was accepted by the electoral commission.
