Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona (born 30 June 1967) is the former Central African minister of sports, president of the Central African Football Federation and leader of

Anti-balaka The Anti-balaka (''anti-machete'') is an alliance of militia groups based in the Central African Republic in the early 21st century said by ''the Guardian'' to be composed primarily of Christians, but also some Muslims. However, some church leade ...

. He was arrested in 2018 on a warrant by the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

for

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

Life

Ngaïssona was born on 30 June 1967 in Begoua. He was minister of sport under the

Bozizé Bozizé is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *François Bozizé François Bozizé Yangouvonda (born 14 October 1946) is a Central African Republic, Central African politician who was List of heads of state of the Central Afric ...

regime and president of the Central African Football Federation since 2008. In December 2013 he became leader of one of factions of Anti-balaka. In 2015 he distanced himself from Bozizé. In February 2018 he was elected by

Executive Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

of the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...

to represent the Central African Republic. On 12 December 2018 Ngaïssona was arrested in Paris by French authorities for his involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity pursuant to an

arrest warrant. On 28 November 2019 he was banned by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

from taking part in any football-related activity for six years and eight months. He was also fined 500,000 CHF. His trial started in February 2021.Former soccer executive on trial at ICC for Central African Republic violence
15 February 2021 On 30 August 2021, in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, the hearings in the Central African case of Alfred Yekatom and Ngaïssona resumed after being adjourned in June. A 16th witness, placed on condition of anonymity, was questioned about the attacks in the

Bossangoa Bossangoa is the capital of Ouham, one of the 14 Prefectures of the Central African Republic, prefectures of the Central African Republic. The town has a population of 36,478 (2003 census). It is located 303 km (189 mi) north of the cou ...

region during 2013.

References

People indicted by the International Criminal Court People from Bangui 1967 births Living people Football people in the Central African Republic Government ministers of the Central African Republic Leaders of Anti-balaka {{Crime-bio-stub