Twitter on the spot for suspending football expert’s account
The Twitter account of a prominent football expert turned critic of football authorities @KenyaFootball has been suspended.
The development comes barely a week to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) elections scheduled for March 12th in Rabat, Morocco.
“Your account has been suspended for violating Twitter rules,” a message sent to the account holder read in part.
The social media application did not, however, clarify the allegation.
Francis Gaitho who is associated with the Twitter handle has consistently exposed what he terms as “undue influence” of FIFA in the elections, as they seek to impose their candidates.
Sports journalists from established media houses including BBC have tweeted about the suspension, drawing parallels to the hotly contested elections.
Interesting to see that the Twitter account of outspoken @FIFAcom and @CAF_Online critic Francis Gaitho – aka @Kenyafootball – has been suspended. It comes just a week before crunch CAF presidential elections… pic.twitter.com/UmNC78ZTbG
— Piers Edwards (@piers_e) March 4, 2021
Amongst the presidential candidates for the Caf presidency include South Africa’s Patrice Motsepe, Senegal’s Augustin Senghor, Mauritania’s Ahmad Yahya, and Ivory Coast’s Jacques Anouma.
Kenya’s Nick Mwendwa is gunning for a FIFA Council seat and he is facing off against a crowded pool of contestants including Tanzania’s Wallace Karia, Zambia’s Andrew Kamanga, Malawi’s Walter Nyamilandu and Nigeria’s Amaju Pinnick.
According to reports, Francis Gaitho’s Twitter handle was gaining prominence as the source of information and would have likely influenced the outcome of the elections.
It appears that some people are fearful of what @kenyafootball has to say. Why is that? Is it because there is a large degree of truth in what he has been saying, concerning the @CAF_Online elections? https://t.co/0q14nO4FeB
— Osasu Obayiuwana (@osasuo) March 4, 2021