Former African football president Issa Hayatou died on Thursday after a long illness, one day before his 78th birthday.
The Cameroonian was a long-serving president of the Confederation of African Football for 29 years from 1988 until his surprise ouster in 2017.
He also served as acting FIFA president from 2015 to 2016 after Sepp Blatter was suspended by world football’s governing body.
Hayatou, whose brother was the prime minister of Cameroon, was a lifelong sports administrator. He was an International Olympic Committee member from 2001-2016, after which he became an honorary member.
In 2011, Hayatou was disciplined by the IOC over his role in an alleged bribery scandal at FIFA.
He was issued with a reprimand after BBC Panorama claimed he received about $20,000 from the now-defunct sports marketing company ISL in 1995. Hayatou denied any corruption and said the money was a gift for his confederation.
His tenure at the helm of African football saw the game on the continent make strides although Hayatou was often accused of being dictatorial and slow to introduce innovative change.
Hayatou challenged Blatter for the FIFA presidency in 2002 but lost heavily as many African countries deserted him in the vote against the Swiss.
Meanwhile, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has commiserated with the Cameroonian football fraternity and the African football family.
“The NFF and the entire Nigeria football family are saddened by the death of Alhaji Issa Hayatou. He was a great and much-loved leader of African football and did his best to leave African football greater than he met it.
“Alhaji Hayatou was a man of strong character and integrity. We love him but God loves him more. We pray that Almighty Allah will grant him eternal rest and also grant the Cameroonian, nay African football family the fortitude to bear the loss,” he stated.
