DR Congo coach Jonathan Bukabakwa handed extended ban to 2048 after working with children while suspended
Jonathan Bukabakwa, a coach in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has had his Fifa suspension extended by five years to 2048 in a ruling published on 21 October 2026. The extension follows an original 20-year ban imposed in 2023 for sexual abuse of a minor and includes an additional $15,000 (£11,200) fine.
Fifa’s ethics committee also fined the Congolese Association Football Federation (Fecofa) and Racing Club Baki $50,000 each for failing to comply with the 2023 decision, and instructed Fecofa to introduce a “comprehensive education, compliance and monitoring programme for its officials, affiliated clubs and registered members.” A Fifa statement said: “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.”
The action by Fifa followed a Guardian investigation in August that uncovered video footage of Bukabakwa coaching young players at Esperanto in the Limete district of Kinshasa, and local sources confirmed he had regularly been seen taking charge of players on a school field.
Bukabakwa, known as Messi, was convicted by authorities in the DRC of sexually abusing minors and was released from prison last year; he had previously coached youth teams in the Limpopo and Malabo regions. He did not deny continuing to coach young players but said he had not been informed of his Fifa ban, adding he had not been questioned or received any communication from the governing body. He has denied the allegations against him.
Fecofa provisionally suspended Bukabakwa in November 2022 after media reports of alleged widespread sexual abuse in the DRC, and several other coaches were provisionally suspended at the time. 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 said he will re-establish a disciplinary committee and examine previous cases; he said: “We will make sure that no one who is behaving like this will be involved in football in this country.” Fecofa had been under a Fifa-appointed normalisation committee from 2023 until his election.
Fecofa has been ordered to set up the mandated education, compliance and monitoring programme for its officials, affiliated clubs and registered members and Racing Club Baki and the association have been fined; Bukabakwa faces the extended ban and the additional $15,000 penalty as part of Fifa’s disciplinary measures.
