Former President of the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF), Issa Hayatou, has passed away.
Hayatou, who led CAF from 1988 to 2017, played a pivotal role in bringing the first-ever FIFA World Cup to Africa, hosted by South Africa in 2010.
In a heartfelt condolence message to Hayatou’s family, CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe expressed deep gratitude for Hayatou’s significant contributions to the development of football across Africa.
The statement reads, “I express my deepest personal condolences and the condolences of the 54 CAF Member Associations on the passing of CAF’s former President, Issa Hayatou; to his family, the Fédération Camerounaise de Football, its President Samuel Eto’o, and the people of Cameroon. CAF and African Football will forever be grateful to President Hayatou for his enormous and far-reaching contributions, over many years, to the development and growth of football in Africa. He will forever live in our hearts and minds.”
Motsepe has requested that the CAF flag and the flags of all CAF Member Associations be flown at half-mast for five days, until August 13, 2024, in honor of Hayatou. “May President Issa Hayatou’s soul rest in peace,” Motsepe concluded.
In a similar statement, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Gusau, remembered Hayatou—a former Cameroonian track champion in the 400m and 800m, who transitioned to football administration after retiring from athletics—as a man of strong character and integrity.
Hayatou began his career in football administration as the Secretary of FECAFOOT, Cameroon’s football federation, and was elected CAF President just before the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations.
He also served as a member of the International Olympic Committee and briefly as the acting President of FIFA following Sepp Blatter’s suspension.
Despite his long tenure and influence in African football, Hayatou was unsuccessful in his bid to succeed Blatter as FIFA President and lost his re-election bid for another term as CAF President after 29 years in office.
