African football leader Issa Hayatou to take charge of FIFA

Cameroons Issa Hayatou will serve as Acting President of Fifa in the wake of the ban on Sepp Blatter.

Mr Hayatou is the longest-serving vice-president on Fifa’s Executive Committee and a former athlete.

"As mandated by article 32 (6) of the Fifa Statutes, Issa Hayatou, as the longest-serving vice-president on FIFA’s Executive Committee, will serve as Acting President of FIFA," a FIFA statement reads.

Who is Hayatou?
Background

Hayatou was born in Garoua, Cameroon on 9 August 1946 and was initially one of the country's leading athletes. He represented Cameroon in basketball and as a middle-distance runner.

His powerful and influential family hold the sultanate of Garoua and his brother, Sadou, is the former prime minister of Cameroon.

Work in football

In 1974, and at just 28-years-old, he assumed the role of Secretary General at the Cameroon Football Association. Thirteen years later, he became president of the CAF, a role he continues to fill to this day.

In fact, Hayatou, who is now 69-year-old, recently changed the confederation's statutes which oblige executives to step down once they reach 70. He claimed this was done in order to "bring the policy into line with Fifa's".

Hayatou's presidency has overseen the rise of African places at the World Cup finals from two to five, with impressive tournament performances from Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana and Algeria boosting the continent's profile.

Hayatou was central to South Africa's staging of the World Cup in 2010, presiding over both the bid and the organising committee.

2002 Fifa presidential race

Hayatou vied with Blatter for the Fifa presidency in 2002 but lost, claiming 56 votes to the Swiss' 139. His connections with European delegates were not enough to defeat Blatter, who enjoys support from North American, South American and African federations.
orruption allegations

In 2010, a BBC Panorama investigation carried out by journalist Andrew Jennings alleged that Hayatou had receivied bribes for World Cup TV rights in the 1990s.

Hayatou was accused of receiving 100,000 French Francs from the marketing agency ISL, who were eventually awarded the rights. He denied the allegations and caused the BBC to be banned from Fifa meetings.

The International Olympic Committee, of which Hayatou is a member, reprimanded him over the ISL kickbacks in 2011.

In that same year, Hayatou was accused by the Sunday Times of accepting a $1.5m bribe from the ultimately successful Qatar bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

Hayatou denied taking the money and he is yet to be questioned by investigators over the allegations.