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Egyptian court launches probe into sale of soccer broadcasting rights

The Egyptian public prosecutor decided to refer the former chairman of the Confederation of African Football to court on charges of violating Egyptian laws that prohibit monopolistic practices.
FIFA's acting president Issa Hayatou addresses a news conference after a meeting of the Executive Committee at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland December 3, 2015. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann - RTX1X0JI
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CAIRO — On March 13, Egyptian Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadek referred to the Economic Court the then-Chairman of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Issa Hayatou on accusations of improperly selling the rights to broadcast the African Union (AU) championships, thus allegedly violating the Egyptian Law on the Protection of Competition and the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices.

This resulted in further tensions between the African and Egyptian federations and to the March 16 CAF election defeat of Hayatou, a Cameroonian who headed the organization for 29 years, by Ahmad Ahmad, who heads Madagascar’s Football Association.

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