Coach banned until 2048 for training children in DR Congo while suspended for sexual abuse

A coach in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was banned from football for 20 years by Fifa for sexual abuse of a minor has had his ban extended by five years to 2048 by the world governing body.

Jonathan Bukabakwa, known as Messi, has also been ordered to pay an additional fine of $15,000 (£11,200) after the Guardian revealed he had continued to work with young players despite his suspension.

The Congolese Association Football Federation (Fecofa) and Racing Club Baki, where Bukabakwa was coaching, have been fined $50,000 each by Fifa’s ethics committee for failing to comply with its decision to ban him for 20 years in 2023.

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Fecofa has also been instructed to introduce a “comprehensive education, compliance and monitoring programme for its officials, affiliated clubs and registered members” to try to ensure there is no repeat.

“The Congo DR Football Association, the club Racing Club Baki (formerly known as Esperanto FC), and the coach Jonathan Bukabakwa were found responsible for failing to comply with the decision rendered by the Fifa ethics committee on 18 October 2023,” said a Fifa statement.

Bukabakwa, who previously coached youth teams in the Limpopo and Malabo regions, was convicted of sexually abusing minors by authorities in the DRC and was released from prison last year. A Guardian investigation in August revealed there was video footage of him coaching young players at Esperanto in the Limete district of the capital, Kinshasa. Local sources confirmed he had regularly been seen taking charge of players on a school field.

Bukabakwa did not deny continuing to coach young players but claimed he had not been informed of his Fifa ban. He said he had not been questioned or received any communication from the governing body. He has denied the allegations against him.

The case has raised further questions about safeguarding in Congolese football and the ability of authorities to ensure that suspended individuals do not continue participating in the sport. Bukabakwa was provisionally suspended by Fecofa in November 2022 after media reports of alleged widespread sexual abuse in the DRC. Several other coaches were provisionally suspended at the time, although investigations into some of those other cases did not establish sufficient evidence for further action by Fecofa or Fifa.

Véron Mosengo-Omba, elected as Fecofa’s president in May, has promised to look into the previous cases once he has re-established a disciplinary committee. Fecofa was under a Fifa-appointed normalisation committee from 2023 until his election. “We will make sure that no one who is behaving like this will be involved in football in this country,” he said.