African Football Chief Sentenced to 12 Years Over Role in Brutal Conflict

Following a landmark ICC verdict, an African football chief was jailed for 12 years for coordinating deadly militia attacks on civilians.

The former head of the Central African Republic (CAR) football federation, Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by the International Criminal Court (ICC) after being found guilty of 28 war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Alongside him, Alfred Yekatom, a former CAR lawmaker and militia leader known as "Rambo", was sentenced to 15 years after being convicted on 20 similar charges.

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The verdict, delivered after nearly four years of proceedings, marks one of the most high-profile international convictions tied to the CAR’s bloody conflict of 2013–2014.

Ngaïssona, once a powerful figure in African football and politics, was found to have played a central role in co-ordinating violent attacks against the country’s Muslim population.

The court heard evidence from over 170 witnesses and examined nearly 20,000 items of evidence. These included murder, torture, and persecution based on religion.

From Football Leader to Militia Co-ordinator

Once seen as a prominent sports official, Ngaïssona's dark involvement in war crimes came into the spotlight when the Séléka, a predominantly Muslim rebel coalition, overthrew President François Bozizé in 2013.

This led to the emergence of anti-Balaka militias—mostly Christian fighters—who sought to retaliate and drive out the Séléka. Ngaïssona became the self-declared political coordinator of these militias, providing them with arms, money, and orders.

The prosecution detailed how Ngaïssona helped orchestrate a brutal campaign to target Muslims, who were described by anti-Balaka leaders as “enemies of the nation.”

Witnesses spoke of mass killings, villages razed, and civilians executed in horrific ways.

According to the ICC, Ngaïssona’s support to the anti-Balaka went beyond political rhetoric—he was instrumental in organizing their attacks in both planning and execution.

The Campaign of Terror in Bangui

The violence reached a horrifying peak in December 2013, particularly in the capital, Bangui, where Alfred Yekatom led anti-Balaka fighters in a coordinated assault.

Yekatom, once a military officer and later a lawmaker, was accused of leading raids that resulted in the slaughter of hundreds of civilians. The prosecution said his fighters slit throats, mutilated bodies, and buried people alive.

More than 1,000 people were killed in Bangui during that month alone, with half the city’s population fleeing in fear.

Yekatom's role as a commander meant he was directly responsible for ordering and permitting these atrocities.

Despite his later election to parliament in 2016, Yekatom remained a deeply controversial figure, especially after he fired a weapon during a parliamentary session.

Justice at Last

Ngaïssona and Yekatom both denied the charges, but their trial and eventual conviction have been seen as a significant step toward accountability.

Human rights groups praised the ICC’s decision, describing it as a long-overdue recognition of the suffering endured by civilians during CAR’s conflict.

French authorities arrested Ngaïssona in 2018, and he was handed over to the ICC in early 2019.