Gabon Football Federation boss Pierre-Alain Mounguengui arrested

Pierre-Alain Mounguengui, president of the Gabonese Football Federation, has been arrested in Libreville as part of the probe into the pedophilia scandal that has hit Gabonese football.

Pierre-Alain Mounguengui, the newly re-elected head of the Gabonese Football Federation, was placed in detention at Libreville Central Prison on Wednesday after being detained by police since last Thursday.

In 10 days, the first hearing will be held. Caught up in the “Capellogate” (after the nickname of one of the accused instructors), these serial exposes acts of pedophilia in the country’s football, the president of Fegafoot was questioned by his country’s police on Thursday.

The “Capellogate” has shaken Gabonese football since the end of 2021. This scandal owes its name to Patrick Assoumou Eyi, nicknamed “Capello”, accused of having “raped, trained and exploited” many boys, when he was under-18 coach. 17 years old from Gabon, until 2017, then as technical director of the Ligue de l’Estuaire – the youth championships. “The network dates back to the 1990s. It appears from this investigation that it would be several hundred victims just for this man who would have also provided other minor players to other Gabonese football personalities”, then explained the French investigative journalist Romain Molina, co-author of the investigation, in an interview with France 24.

Pierre-Alain Mongueungui is not the first Gabonese football leader to find himself compromised. On January 25, the steward of the national team, Serge Hamed Mombo, was apprehended by the Gabonese police when he got off the plane at Leon-Mba airport in Libreville. Re-elected to a third term after declining an appointment as Inspector General of Services. Dropped by the presidential palace, the leader finds himself behind bars. Other heads could roll as part of this investigation. In the meantime, the Gabonese Football Federation finds itself without a president.