Bility Now A ‘Free Man – As CAF Lifts Ban

The six-month ban placed on President of the Liberia Football Association, Musa Bility has been lifted earlier than expected by the Confederation of African Football or CAF.

Bility was banned from all football activity by CAF on 2 May after the football-governing body said he “had violated statutes relating to the use of confidential documents”. On Monday, September 23, CAF announced on its website that the suspension had been lifted with immediate effect.

Musa Bility was involved in a fight against CAF’s rule changes to the process that effectively allowed President Issa Hayatou to be re-elected unopposed in March. He twice took an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, but was unsuccessful. Bility has indicated that the punishment was only because of his opposition to rule changes that helped CAF President Issa Hayatou gain re-election in March.

He told the Associated Press on Friday that he had appealed against his suspension and a $10,000 fine for his federation soon after it was announced by the Confederation on Thursday, saying

Bility “there is no justification” for the punishment and “it is wrong”. CAF said the sanctions were because Bility used confidential minutes from its executive committee meeting without permission. However, Bility insisted that it was because of Liberia’s legal challenge against rule changes that limited challenges to Hayatou’s presidency.