Sepp blatter
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Issa Hayatou: Fifa's stand-in man at the top
In many ways, this was probably the news that Cameroon's Issa Hayatou privately dreaded.
Some 111 years on from its founding, Fifa is now being technically run by an African for the first time - news which should of course be welcomed on the continent.
But the acting Fifa president could never be accused of courting the media, preferring instead to make his distance as large as possible.
Now though, a man who is far happier in the backrooms of power has been thrust into the limelight.
For the next 90 days, while Sepp Blatter is suspended, he will be centre stage - and he may well find the spotlight more heated than ever.
Following Blatter's suspension by Fifa's Ethics Committee, the long-standing Confederation of African Football president has taken interim control of world football's governing body in his capacity as its most senior vice-president.
Born in northern Cameroon, Hayatou is the son of a local sultan and comes from a family of politicians - his brother was once the country's prime
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Hayatou - the man who transformed African football
After an unsuccessful bid to become Fifa president in 2002, the beginning of the end of Hayatou's Caf reign came in 2016 when elections to replace Blatter were held by Fifa.
The Cameroonian instructed Caf's 54 members to back Bahraini candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, yet Gianni Infantino assumed the crown instead.
The Swiss-Italian was keen to see Hayatou removed from power and he was dethroned by the Fifa-backed candidate Ahmad in 2017.
However, the Malagasy became far more enmeshed in scandal than his predecessor ever had been – becoming the first Caf president to be banned by Fifa for breaching its ethics code.
Developments since Hayatou’s exit have given some of those who had sought to vote him out of office time to reflect on his legacy.
"The passing of Issa serves as a poignant reminder of the loss we have experienced since his exit from the realm of power in African football," Musa Bility, the former president of the Liberian federation, told BBC Sport Africa.
"Each of us who
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Issa Hayatou
Cameroonian basketball player and football executive (1946–2024)
Issa Hayatou (9 August 1946 – 8 August 2024) was a Cameroonian sports executive, athlete, and football administrator best known for serving as the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) between 1988 and 2017. He served as the acting FIFA president until 26 February 2016 as the previous president Sepp Blatter was banned from all football-related activities in 2015 as a part of the that year's FIFA corruption investigation. In 2002, he ran for president of FIFA but was defeated by Blatter. He was also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
In November 2010 he was alleged by the BBC to have taken bribes in the 1990s regarding the awarding of World Cup television rights. The IOC announced it would investigate him.[3] On 16 March 2017, he was defeated by Malagasy challenger Ahmad Ahmad, ending Hayatou's 29-year reign as the CAF President. On 24 May 2017, he was appointed President of the National Football Academy by the president of Cameroon, Paul Biya.[
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