The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has cleared Liberian referee Jerry Yekeh from all allegations of corruption.
Yekeh was one of many African match officials secretly filmed by investigative Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
He was filmed at the 2017 West African Football Union Nations Cup finals in Ghana however the footage did not explicitly show him receiving money.
The Fifa referee was among several officials provisionally banned in July pending submissions to a Caf disciplinary board.
Caf has now exonerated Yekeh “after a thorough check of the elements presented to them regarding the violation of Caf regulations.”
“The disciplinary board decided that there is not sufficient evidence to implicate the involvement of Mr. Yekeh Jerry regarding the allegations of corruptions made against him,” said Caf secretary-general Amr Fahmy in a letter to Yekeh.
“Therefore, the disciplinary board decides [that] the provisional suspension of Mr. Yekeh Jerry is lifted and the guiltiness of Mr. Yekeh Jerry over the corruption accusation is not established.”
The Liberia Football Association (LFA) has welcomed Caf’s decision.
“We are so grateful to God that he was able to clear every one of us not just Jerry Yekeh,” said Ebenezer Stanley Konah, LFA director of referees.
“It [Yekeh’s clearance] means that Liberian referees can be trusted. Liberian referees will go places and come back and keep our heads high above the water.”
Caf has already banned a number of match officials after the release of the Anas’s film including a life ban for Kenyan referee, Aden Marwa.
A total of eight Ghanaian referees were also sanctioned by Caf – two for life and six more received 10-year bans.
The Referees Association of Ghana recognised the eight bans by Caf and also recently sanctioned a further 53 match officials – six for life and the remaining 47 for 10 years.
Source: BBC
