Hayatou cannot afford to soil his legacy

African football chief Issa Hayatou (left) and Cecafa President Leodegar Tenga [PHOTO: STAFFORD ONDEGO/STANDARD]

By Omulo Okoth

I am at a loss as to why African Football Confederation (CAF) president would wish to ruin his legacy.

Issa Hayatou, for all practical purposes, has done well as African football chief. It was during his reign that Fifa brought the World Cup to Africa, for the first time.

Although the world’s most watched sporting jamboree was held in South Africa, the spillover effects were felt all over the continent. Even Nairobi has a centre built in Komarock Estate to help tap talent around that neighbourhood, the Fifa Win in Africa with Africa Project.

Hayatou has had occasion to try his hands in the mucky Fifa politics, sometimes with harsh repercussions, as was the case when he herded CAF to support Swede Lennart Johanssen against Sepp Blatter in 1998, and sometimes to good effect.

Four years later, with the backing of Uefa, he threw his own hat into the ring, again, against Blatter. He lost 139-56.

Hayatou, who has been at the helm of African football since 1987, lifted the profile of African football from also-runs to a force to reckon with, even if he was only testing the waters.

He has overseen successful World Cup appearances by Senegal, Nigeria and Cameroon and pushed for African places in the finals to increase from two to five. Two years ago, the hosts gained an automatic slot that made it six.

The African Cup of Nations was expanded from 8 to 16 teams. Club competitions have equally expanded and become big and lucrative.

The British investigative reporter, Andrew Jennings, has not been very kind to him, linking him with mega corruption at Fifa and IOC.

But when the African football had thought the former Cameroonian teacher would bow out and identify an energetic young man to step into his big shoes, he has shot himself in the foot.

CAF passed a rule in September that whoever wants to run for presidency must be a member of the executive. This rule is seen as aimed at Ivory Coast Football federation president, Jacques Anouma, and Danny Jordaan, the 2010 World Cup chief executive. Elections are due next March in Morocco.

This weird rule was passed at CAF Congress in Seychelles and was supported by 44 heads of associations, with six opposing it and four abstaining.

The new rule stipulates that anyone seeking the presidency must be a voting member of the CAF executive committee.

But this rule has ruffled quite a few feathers, with Liberian football chief Hassan Musa Bility taking on Hayatou head-on at the Court of Arbitration in Sport in Geneva.

The Liberian FA has raised technical issues and argued that its implementation is invalid.

These include a failure to provide the minimum 90 days’ notice that the amendment would be put forward at CAF’s extraordinary general assembly on September 3. The rule has also not been ratified by Fifa.

“Because of the way African football is run it is very difficult for African football association presidents to openly disagree with the system,” Bility told BBC early this week.

“But we believe that they understand that this decision is not good for progress. We cannot be living in the 21st century and trying to administrate football as though we were in the 18th century,” he told BBC.

Hayatou has very strong supporters that include Cecafa and sections of Cosafa, like Zambia’s legend Kalusha Bwalya.

I can’t understand why he should not let democracy prevail. Even if he is beaten, what more does he have to prove?

But majority of African football chiefs are asking for an open vote to be conducted by secret ballot. It takes the very brave like the Liberian FA chief to stand up against leaders with autocratic trait like Hayatou. 

—The writer is The Standard Sports Editor [email protected]