Zetchi asks for acquittal as lawyer reveals CAF payments were donated to FAF

Kheireddine Zetchi has asked to be acquitted at the end of his trial, while his lawyer has revealed that the former Algerian Football Federation (FAF) president donated payments he received from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) back to the organisation.

After six adjournments and almost two years in pre-trial detention, Zetchi will learn his fate on 27 October. His trial, which opened on 13 October following a lengthy series of postponements, has now been adjourned for deliberation.

Before the verdict, one of Zetchi’s lawyers told the court about several actions his client had apparently preferred to keep private.

“I did not want to say this, and I am a little embarrassed because my client does not want me to talk about it,” Me Feddag is reported to have told the presiding judge.

The lawyer said Zetchi had personally received $20,000 a year from CAF to cover expenses during his time leading the FAF. That amounted to $80,000 across his full term, but was, according to the defence, donated in its entirety to the federation to support women’s football and youth teams.

Me Feddag also claimed that Zetchi had provided ceramic materials worth the equivalent of 2.5 billion centimes for the renovation of the national team’s hotel at the Centre technique national de Sidi Moussa.

The court will decide what weight to attach to those claims in a case concerning, among other matters, the financial management of the FAF between 2017 and 2023.

The prosecution has requested 10 years in prison for each of the three former federation presidents: Zetchi, Charaf-Eddine Amara and Djahid Zefizef.

The defence has rejected the accusations. It has argued that the federation’s financial statements were approved by its general assemblies and that the FAF received no public subsidies during Zetchi’s presidency.

In his final statement, Zetchi again sought acquittal and said he met all the conditions required to be released under judicial supervision.

“These months in prison have been difficult,” he said, before insisting that he had acted with integrity. “Every night, I ask myself what my wrongdoing was.”

Zetchi founded Paradou AC and its academy, and served as FAF president from 2017 to 2021. His tenure included the appointment of Djamel Belmadi and Algeria’s historic Africa Cup of Nations triumph in 2019.

That success prompted strong tributes from Belmadi and the national team’s players when Zetchi’s presidency ended.

His time in office was also shaped by a power struggle with the faction represented by Walid Sadi, a former ally of Mohamed Raouraoua and the current FAF president. The pair had previously competed for control of the federation.

The investigation that led to the trial was opened after Sadi took office and made serious statements about the financial situation he said he had inherited. That background has led Zetchi’s supporters to suggest the case may have political dimensions or amount to a settling of scores.

The court is due to rule on 27 October, with the legal issues to be determined separately from the rival factions still contesting influence in Algerian football.