Own Correspondent|Amr Fahmy, the former general secretary of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), died on Sunday at the age of 36 after a long battle with cancer.

Fahmy, whose father and grandfather assumed the same role, was appointed as CAF’s secretary general in November 2017, replacing Moroccan Hicham El Amrani.

However, he was fired less than two years into the job after he accused CAF’s president Ahmad Ahmad of bribes and misuse of hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was replaced by Moroccan Mouad Hajji.

The revelations caused shockwaves in the continent and prompted world governing body FIFA to take over the running of African football for six months last year, dispatching its own general secretary Fatma Samoura to effectively be in charge of CAF.

In June last year, Ahmad Ahmad was also briefly detained by French authorities in Paris as part of a corruption probe.

“It is with great deal of sadness and emotions that we received the shock news,” CAF said in a statement carried on its official website.

“On behalf of CAF, we extend our deepest condolences to his family especially his parents, his spouse and daughter.

“Our thoughts are with you at this difficult moment, and may God have mercy on his soul.”

Before becoming the secretary general, Fahmy also worked with the CAF Competitions Division between 2007 and 2015 and was the director of the Africa Cup Nations, the continent’s flagship tournament.

He intended to run for president in CAF’s next elections in 2021.