21 - 27 March 2002
Issue No.578
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 March 2002 Issue No.578 |
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Gunning for football's top job
An African seeks to become the new supremo of world soccer. Inas Mazhar assesses the odds
Should Issa Hayatou succeed in deposing Joseph Blatter, he will become the first African president of FIFA, the world's governing body of football. Hayatou firmly believes that he, FIFA and the world are ready for the transition.
Hayatou and Johansson shake, then get down to business, flanked by members of FIFA's executive committee (photos: Adel Ahmed)
The president of the Confederation Africain de Football (CAF), Hayatou announced his candidacy following an executive committee meeting of the CAF in Cairo on Saturday.
"The executive committee has unanimously decided to ask me to present my papers for candidacy," Hayatou, a Cameroonian, said, adding he would not have taken the decision if he had not had the support of the executive committee and the majority of the national federations of the continent.
Hayatou is standing on a ticket of what he called transparency, saying he was hoping to end the political in-fighting which has damaged FIFA's reputation in recent years. "If I am elected president, I will do everything to finally bring friendship back to FIFA so we become one family again," Hayatou said. "I want to reinforce the credibility of FIFA and restore its integrity as an institution. My office will be transparent and open."
He said he wanted to clean up FIFA after recent embarrassments which have hounded Blatter, the 66- year-old Swiss who is seeking a second four-year term. Blatter has come under fire following the $300 million collapse of marketing partners ISL/ISMM. He has denied allegations of bribery but was forced into an embarrassing U-turn to set up an inquiry into FIFA's finances. He has also refused to disclose details of his salary and has fought against an internal audit of FIFA's books.
Blatter's opponents won a significant victory in Zurich when a six- member group was appointed to investigate the effects of the ISL affair.
Hayatou was one of 13 executive committee members who demanded an investigation into the losses suffered by FIFA. At the press conference, he said he had no problem announcing the details of his salary.
Hayatou has travelled extensively in recent weeks in an attempt to drum up support in the Middle East and Europe. And the signs are he has succeeded. In Cairo, he was flanked by five members of FIFA's executive committee, including vice president Antonio Matarrese of Italy, Lennart Johansson, the UEFA president, and Chung Mong-Joon, the powerful president of the Korean Football Association. From the podium each declared their full support of Hayatou.
"In past elections, when I was running for the presidency, Hayatou and the CAF backed me," Johansson said. "I felt then that Hayatou was supporting me as if he was running for the post himself. That's why I'm giving him my full support," Johansson added. Johansson was beaten by Blatter for the presidency four years ago and is one of a powerful group of top FIFA names critical of the president.
Hayatou said he was not worried if he failed to receive the backing of some African federations. "It doesn't matter if one or two federations on the continent are against me. The African majority is backing me. Besides, I have the full support of both the Asian and European confederations. If I didn't believe I had their support I would not have put myself forward."
Hayatou's apparent popularity comes to many observers as no surprise, especially in Africa where his biggest success was to increase the continent's number of World Cup finals places from two in 1990 to five in 1998. He has also lobbied to increase African representation in FIFA's executive committee and has enjoyed the loyalty of most of Africa by ensuring that each national association president had a place on one of CAF's standing committees. Hayatou describes himself as a fighter for equality in sports, but added: "I'm not a revolutionary. I do not make changes just for changes' sake."
Not all of Hayatou's road has been paved with roses. A number of his supporters deserted him in 1998 when he backed Johansson's bid for the FIFA presidency against Blatter. He now appears to have won back defectors despite suffering another setback in 1998 when television cameras caught him sleeping during a World Cup match in France.
Hayatou, a former professional soccer player, has headed CAF since 1988. He has held leading positions in the Cameroonian soccer federation, including its top post, since 1974.
Now 55, he has been re-elected three times, losing just three votes out of 51 in the presidential election of January 2000.
A physical education teacher, Hayatou was born into a wealthy family in Garoue in the north of Cameroon. A former international athlete and basketballer, he served as an athletics trainer before turning to soccer administration.
The FIFA vote will be held at the FIFA Congress in Seoul on 31 May, two days before the World Cup begins. Leading up to that day, Hayatou must convince the majority of FIFA's 204-member associations that he should replace Blatter as the most powerful man in world football.
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