Former African Football Boss Issa Hayatou Dies at 78

The former African Football President Issa Hayatou died in Paris on Thursday, 8th August, after a long battle with illness just a day before his 78th birthday. He was a former 400m and 800m champion of Cameroon. After serving as the secretary of the Cameroonaise de Football (FECAFOOT) in the 1970s, the Cameroonian was the most extended serving boss of the Confederation of African Football. He served for 29 years, from 1988 until he was ousted in 2017. He also served as the acting FIFA president from 2015 to 2016 after the world football’s governing body suspended Blatter.

Hayatou, the brother of the Cameroonian prime minister, was a lifelong sports administrator. He was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 2001 to 2016, after which he was appointed an honorary member.
His tenure in the sports administration wasn’t smooth. In 1995, Hayatou was issued with a reprimand after BBC Panorama claimed that he received approximately $20,000 from the sports marketing company ISL. He denied involvement in corruption and said the money was a gift for his confederation.

During his tenure as CAF president, African football made substantial strides on the continent, even though there were always numerous allegations that Hayatou was dictatorial and slow to introduce innovative change to the confederation. Under his tenure as CAF president, South Africa hosted the World Cup in 2010, becoming the first African nation to host the tournament.

In 2002, Hayatou challenged Blatter for the FIFA presidency but failed heavily as many African countries deserted him in the vote against the Swiss countries.
The president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, commiserated with the Cameroonian Football fraternity and the African Football family as a whole following the death of Issa Hayatou.

“The death of Issa Hayatou saddens the NFF and the Nigeria Football family. He was a great and much-loved leader of African football and did his best to leave it greater than he found. He was a man of strong character and integrity. We love him, but God loves him more. We pray that the Almighty Allah will grant him eternal rest and the Cameroonian and African football family the fortitude to bear the loss,” the NFF boss said.