Foul Play: Beninese club JSO DRIBBLE FIFA with the help of FA

• On June 2024, the World Football Governing Body (FIFA) banned club-side Jeunesse Sportive de Ouidah (JSO) from registering new players
• The decision came as a result of the club’s failure to meet financial obligations involving Burkinabé forward, Aboubacar Tilourba
• In what now looks to be the perfect crime, JSO uses players of a lower-tier club (Glehoue United) to play the professional league
• The president and General Secretary of the Benin Football Federation have been labeled complices, trying to protect the interest of JSO president – Atindéhou Innocent, who is an Executive Committee member of the football federation

Football stakeholders in Benin are collectively teeth gnashing with an ongoing case of bullying and injustice regarding club-side Jeunesse Sportive de Ouidah, masterminded by the Benin Football Federation.

For starters, JSO was handed a transfer ban by FIFA on June 18, 2024 – owing to the club’s inability to settle up financial terms with forward, Aboubacar Tilourba.

“it appears that, despite the decision, the Defendant, JEUNESSE SPORTIVE DE OUIDAH has still not respected its financial obligations to Aboubacar Tilourba (the Plaintiff). In this regard, we wish to inform the parties that a ban on registering new players internationally has been implemented by FIFA,” reads a dispatch sent to the Benin Football Federation by Julien Deux, head of the FIFA judicial body.

“In addition, and in accordance with the aforementioned decision, the Benin Football Federation (in copy) is requested to immediately apply a ban on registering new players at the national level on Jeunesse Sportive de Ouidah,” the letter reiterated.

With few weeks to the start of the championship in Benin, top-flight clubs were obliged to create youth teams, which were going to play games before the senior teams delved into action.

“We all lauded the idea because of course, youth teams help the growth and development in football,” a club president stated after receiving a memo from the General Secretary, Claude Paqui.

Suspicion began to grow when other clubs noticed that JSO was represented in the youth and senior categories by completely different players.
It was later uncovered that the different sets of players had licences with Gheloue United (an amateur club located in Ouidah), but were cleared by the federation to represent JSO.

On that note, USS Krake and Club Adjidja FC filed a qualifications protest against Henry Chiche Okpala, holder of a licence delivered by Gheloue United, but actively representing JSO.

Considering the fact that the “non-qualification” of a player causes harm not only to the teams protesting, but to the entire football fraternity in Benin, the disciplinary Comission of the BFF took the following decisions – in line with article 4 and article 92 of the BFF Disciplinary code on December 23, 2024;

• Cancellation of player’s license;
• Suspension of the player for the current season: relegation of the Club (JSO) to a lower division:
• JSO subject to a fine of 500,000 FCFA to the Benin Football Federation;
• Declare defeat in all matches in which the JSO player(s) holding licenses issued to “Glehoue United Sport”

Mathurin DE Chacus, Claude Paqui provide cover for JSO

” This issue is very delicate. Journalists are afraid to talk about it because it could land them in jail, but most if not everyone in our football is not happy,” a Beninese journo who decided to stay anonymous told sportglitz.

According to him, Atindéhou Innocent, the Jeunesse Sportive owner who doubles as an Executive Committee member, is protected by the BFF GS. and president – with both men wielding much power.

“The federation president and General secretary have a strong relationship with our country president, Mr. Patrice Talon. They’re under the group of invincibles. Stakeholders are equally intimidated by the fact that he (De Charcus) is a FIFA council member, and Infantino’s good friend,” he ended.

The amount of power the aforementioned men command was on show at the federation’s Executive Committee meeting on December 27, 2024. From inside reports, a decision not to enforce the ruling of the disciplinary comission was forced down the throat of other executive committee members, and later published.

“The Executive Committee has, among other things, taken note of the appeal for cancellation of the decisions of the Disciplinary and Ethics Committees on the USS KRAKE/JSO and Adjidja/JSO files.

“After having taken note of the said appeal, the Executive Committee have decided that the professional championship is authorized to continue as on the football calendar, ” a release signed by the General Secretary, Claude Paqui reads.

Aboubacar Tilourba meanwhile, is yet to receive his wages as FIFA ordered. His lawyers have reportedly penned another query to FIFA about Jeunesse Sportive de Ouidah’s tricks, and await even tougher sanctions.

The Benin championship is well underway but the next bark from FIFA could be devastating, if the scheme is not perfect. FIFA prides itself as an institution against fraud. A worst case scenario would see Mathurin De Chacus and his GS suspended from football related activities.