Corruption and waste in former government’s sports projects: Audit

An audit of the Ministry of Sports under former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has uncovered corruption, procurement violations, and financial mismanagement in sports projects carried out between 2018 and 2023.

According to the report by the Auditor General’s Office, a series of stadium construction projects were implemented in a manner that undermined the state’s financial interests. The audit found that several projects were deliberately split into smaller contracts and awarded to multiple contractors, a move the report suggests was designed to bypass public tender requirements.

The audit identified 23 out of 129 projects in which work that could have been carried out under a single contract was instead divided. Eighteen of these projects exceeded MVR 5 million in value, the threshold requiring submission to the government’s tender board. The ministry, however, awarded these contracts directly, in apparent violation of procurement regulations.

Breakdown of how individual components were split and contracted separately included:

- Sub-base preparation for the field

- Supply of artificial turf

- Laying the turf

- Construction of stadium rostrums

- Construction of boundary walls and fencing

The report noted that segmenting these projects compromised cost-effectiveness and reduced competitive bidding, driving up public expenditure.

“This will lead to expensive works and increase the expenditure incurred by the state,” the audit stated.

The lack of coordination also caused delays, with some projects stalled due to dependency between contractors.

“There have been situations where one work cannot be started until another is completed, and the rest of the project has not been started for a long time due to one contractor,” the report said.

Irregular advance payments

The audit further revealed serious irregularities in the advance payment process. Financial regulations allow for a 15 percent advance payment if requested within 45 days of a contract being signed. However, in several cases, companies supplying and installing turf received up to 55 percent of the total contract value in advance, in some cases, before any materials were delivered.

The breakdown of unauthorized advance payments included:

- 15 percent paid before work began

- 30 percent issued upon submission of shipping documents

- 10 percent paid on receipt of goods

In total, the report found that over MVR 55 million in advance payments were made before the ministry had received the contracted goods or services.