adminLONDON — Immediately following Sepp Blatter’s announcement of his resignation as Fifa president, calls grew stringent across the continent for CAF President Issa Hayatou to follow suit on the home front.
Hayatou, 68, has been in charge of CAF for 27 years and has been constantly mentioned in Fifa corruption allegations, all of which he has stridently denied.
So the calls for his head would have come as no surprise. That is unlikely to happen. For now, at least. A fighting press statement from CAF’s Media Department quoted Hayatou as saying he was neither interrogated, nor bothered during the arrests in Switzerland.
More, he once again vehemently protested his innocence of any corruption allegations, dismissing it as a set-up.
“Those are frame-ups,” he said. “Whatever the case I’m not surprised. For 20 years now I’ve been accused, especially by the Cameroonian and English press. They’re the two media organs that say things about me. But that’s nothing. It’s just the way life is.”
Long the beneficiaries (cynics might also say the used) of Blatter’s Fifa’s globalisation and base-building policy, CAF now stands at a crossroads as their biggest benefactor readies himself for the final blow.
Distrustful of Uefa and wary of CONCACAF, Africa’s confederation must now reflect and strategise on the best possible manner of keeping their standing in world football’s changing political landscape.
Hayatou is central to all of that.
One lesson the continent’s member associations should have learnt from 1998 and 2002 Fifa elections, is that disunity will get them absolutely nowhere.
In 1998, Hayatou attempted to rally African votes in support of Uefa president Lennart Johansson’s run at Blatter’s job. It backfired spectacularly. Four years later, he put himself front and centre to stand against Blatter. Again, the result was a crushing defeat and deep fracturing within his constituency.
He has since cemented his power base by gradually eliminating the opposition, and rewarding those loyal to him. To say CAF is Hayatou-whipped would be no exaggeration.
As Fifa tries to negotiate its way out of troubled waters, Hayatou points to Europe’s big federations’ need for an inequitable distribution of resources as the foundation of the troubles.
“The money Fifa gives to national associations is the same for every association, including the very rich like Germany. I’m president of the finance committee, as well as of the development committee. It’s at the level of my committee that it all happens. The sharing is equitable. All federations across the world, big or small, have the same amount. This is what vexes them. They believe that more money should be given to the major federations. And Africa is very much aware of this situation. She sees her football and infrastructures develop. Consequently we support Mr Blatter, contrary to what is said.”
This will be a key post-Blatter election point.
Most of Africa and the developing world needs that financing for developing facilities as well as the regular trainings for building capacity.
The European narrative in the lead up to and after the elections, centred on challenging why smaller federations, like Montserrat for example, were allowed the same equal vote as, say, England. As things stand, it is not a position the outnumbered Europe are likely to win. But only if Africa stands firm. Which is why CAF needs to make a decision. Should Hayatou leave, or stay? — The Mirror.
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