By Mark Baber
February 11 – Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou says if he is re-elected in March it will be his last term as president.
Hayatou, who is now 66, has been the head of CAF for over 25 years and is currently the only candidate for the presidential election to be held in Marrakech in March at the CAF Congress.
The election for the president of CAF has been controversial from the start amid accusations of sharp practice by Hayatou and his supporters, and the manipulation of CAF rules. Various legal challenges have been issued, to date unsuccessfully, though there is still one challenge to be ruled on by the Court for Arbitration in Sport.
Hayatou brought forward rule changes in the Seychelles last September, endorsed by CAF member nations who voted 44-6 in favour, to allow only current or former members of his executive committee to stand against him.
The rule changes were unsuccessfully challenged by the Liberian FA but a decision is expected soon on a challenge by Ivory Coast’s Jacques Anouma, a member of FIFA’s executive committee who wishes to stand for the post.
“If I’m elected, this will be my last term,” Hayatou said in comments, published to the ACON2013 web site http://www.afcon2013online.com/index.php/component/content/article/47-media-releases/693-hayatou-if-im-elected-this-will-be-my-last-term and made to a dozen selected journalists whom he had invited to a breakfast meeting in Johannesburg, and to the disappointment of a large number of journalists who were excluded.
Hayatou has made just one unrestricted appearance for the media at the African Cup of Nations in South Africa – when he declined to comment on criticism of the rule changes at a news conference.
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