African Sports Monthly January 2013 Issue | Page 23

HAYATOU HAS NO SHAME
Issa Hayatou has been in charge of African
football for over two decades but is showing
no signs of leaving the reins of African football to someone else. How can one man stay
in a job for that long? Why does African football not have clear statutes that state you can
only be a charge for a specified period? Continuity is good for football but not for this
long though. What exactly is this man’s legacy to African Football? Apart from the fact
President of CAF Issa Hayatou
that during his time Africa now has five representatives at the World Cup I am struggling to find any other achievement
on his part. The quality of the local leagues in Africa has continued to deteriorate. The football pitches in Africa also continue to deteriorate. Even
his own country Cameroon hardly has any decent football pitch worthy of
hosting a major tournament. Tragedy on the terraces still takes place with
regularity, yet Hayatou has not looked into this. Health care plans for
footballers across Africa is also non-existent. Most of the players who
have died of Cardiac arrest or heart failure have been African and most of
them have taken place on African pitches. These are some of the issues
that could have made a legacy for Hayatou but he does not seem bothered
at all.
To make matters worse Hayatou has now come up with a plan to stop
anyone else from running for the presidency of CAF. Jacques Anouma
who is a FIFA executive member had his application to contest the election rejected. Although Anouma has said he will appeal at the Court of
Arbitration for Sport do not hold your breath! The longer Hayatou stays
in charge, the more damage will be done to African Football. Imagine
what transformation could be made to African Football if someone like
Danny Jordaan were to become the President!
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