PwC wins contract to support CAF with operational reform

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is looking to implement significant reforms within its operations, and PwC has been chosen as the most suitable consulting firm to support with this process. The overall transformation process is being supervised by FIFA, after the organisation recognised the need for the club format of football to grow on the continent.

After a tender was issued at the end of July, PwC won out over a number of major consulting firms to manage the project, including Big Four rival EY and global business advisory firms FTI Consulting and BDO. Other firms that applied for the contract include Ballympics International from the UAE and Control Risks.

Having won the contract, PwC will not only conduct a forensic audit of the CAF, but will also develop a phased internal due diligence plan, as well as conducting a comprehensive business review of CAF operations and an audit of CAF accounts to identify potential areas of improvement.

Thereafter, the firm will make recommendations on how to enhance transparency within CAF, in a report that will be presented to the CAF/FIFA Reform Taskforce. The report is expected in late November this year. The taskforce consists of senior government officials from a number of African countries, including Mali, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt and Rwanda.

This is the second time in recent years that PwC has been involved in a project with the CAF. The firm was previously tasked with the account for the Africa Cup of Nations 2019, but withdrew from the account, stating that Cameroon was not ready for the event. The venue for the event was later changed for the same reason. 

Commenting on PwC’s latest project with the CAF, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said, “If this CAF/Fifa cooperation succeeds African football will be even more envied around the world. You members of the task force are the foundation from which the future African football will be built. We count on your support, your passion and innovation.”

A CAF statement read, “A consensus was reached between all participants that African club football needs to be radically transformed into a more appealing product. Concretely this means restructuring club competitions with the view to significantly increasing the number of African clubs playing at top level. This deep reform of African club football will help to bring it to a more global audience.”