Former President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Issa Hayatou, has died in Paris aged 77 on Thursday, just a day before his 78th birthday after battling a long illness.
From 1988 until his abrupt removal in 2017, the Cameroonian served as the Confederation of African Football’s president for a considerable 29 years.
He was replaced by Ahmad Ahmad from Malaysia as the 7th president of CAF from 2017 to 2021.
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He also served as acting FIFA president from 2015-2016 after Sepp Blatter was suspended by world football’s governing body.
He oversaw the FIFA elections that installed Gianni Infantino as the organization’s leader.
African Football advanced during his time as president of CAF, but not without controversies and criticisms of being slow to adopt new changes into the African game.
The continent’s football infrastructure was strengthened, more African teams were invited to the FIFA World Cup, and the Africa Cup of Nations was expanded.
In 2002, Hayatou ran against Blatter for the FIFA presidency, but he was defeated handily since many African nations voted for the Swiss candidate.
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