The former president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, died in Paris on Thursday at the age of 77.
According to sources, Hayatou’s death on the eve of his 78th birthday has been confirmed by several reliable sources, including his former colleague Gerard Dreyfus and BBC journalist Osasu Obayiuwana.
The former president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, died in Paris on Thursday at the age of 77.
Issa Hayatou, a former athlete, led CAF with an iron fist for almost three decades, from 1988 to 2017, and even briefly held the post of FIFA President, from October 2015 to February 2016 at the time of Sepp Blatter’s suspension.
Issa Hayatou born 9th August 1946 was a Cameroonian sports executive, athlete, and football administrator best known for serving as the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) between 1988 and 2017. He served as the acting FIFA president until 26 February 2016 as the previous president Sepp Blatter was banned from all football-related activities in 2015 as a result of that year’s FIFA corruption investigation. In 2002, he ran for president of FIFA but was defeated by Blatter. He was also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
In November 2010 he was alleged by the BBC to have taken bribes in the 1990s regarding the awarding of World Cup television rights. The IOC announced it would investigate him. Following the 2015 FIFA corruption case, Hayatou took charge of FIFA, as the acting president, until 26 February 2016 when Gianni Infantino was elected to the position. On 16 March 2017, he was defeated by Malagasy challenger Ahmad Ahmad, ending Hayatou’s 29-year reign as the CAF President. On 24 May 2017, he was appointed President of the National Football Academy by the president of Cameroon, Paul Biya.
In 1974, aged just 28, he became Secretary General of the Cameroonian Football Federation, and Chair of the FA in 1986. As chair, he was chosen the same year to sit on the CAF Executive Committee. Following the retirement of Ethiopia’s Ydnekatchew Tessema from the CAF presidency in August 1987, Hayatou was elected as the fifth president in the body’s history.[11] He lost his seventh re-election campaign to Ahmad Ahmad in March 2017.
A Little History about Issa Hayatou
Issa Hayatou was born in Garoua, in what was then French Cameroon, on 9 August 1946, the son of a local Sultan, and became a middle-distance runner and physical education teacher. Hayatou had a successful career as an athlete, becoming a member of the Cameroonian national squads in both Basketball and Athletics and holding national record times in the 400- and 800-metre running.
Hayatou is married with four children. The Hayatou family are traditional holders of the sultanate (Lamidat, from the Sokoto Caliphate’s traditional Fula title Lamine) of Garoua. Hayatou was the son of the reigning sultan, and many relatives have acceded to powerful positions in Cameroonian society.
Issa Hayatou will be sorely missed from African Football.
