Hayatou survives coup d’état at Caf general assembly

What you need to know:

Hayatou’s successor will be elected from within his executive at the next election if the 70-year-old chooses not to stand for re-election.
Fifa president, Italian Gianni Infantino, attended the assembly that was called to elect two new members to the Fifa Council as Africa’s representation was increased from five to seven seats.

Kampala. A Caf extraordinary general assembly that ended yesterday in Cairo, Egypt turned into a tough examination for Fufa president Moses Magogo.
Magogo, representing Uganda’s position, along Djibouti, Rwanda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and Somalia supported a proposal that would have made Caf president Issa Hayatou’s position vulnerable.
The proposal, sponsored by Djibouti, was intended to end the rule, introduced just four years ago, that restricted potential candidates for the Caf presidency to members of its 15-man executive committee only.
It had originally been seen as an attempt by long-serving president Hayatou, in office since 1982, to hand pick his successor.

But the proposal from the Djibouti football federation read that anyone can stand for election as Caf president as long as they are “supported by at least five member associations”.
The potential candidate must also have played an active role in football as an official of a member association, during four of the last five years preceding the submission of the candidacy.
Candidates must also pass an eligibility check. Also supported by Liberia’s Musa Billity, a former Fifa presidential aspirant and Hayatou critic, it was expected to be passed without much fuss. It received 16 votes, seven of them from the Cecafa region with Kenya, Malawi and South Africa among the five, who abstained. Eritrea and Burundi were among the 32 federations against the proposal.

Hayatou’s successor will be elected from within his executive at the next election if the 70-year-old chooses not to stand for re-election.
The current rules have similarities to Uganda where to challenge Magogo at next year’s polls, one must have been part of the executive of a constituent Fufa member for seven of the last 10 years.
Fifa president, Italian Gianni Infantino, attended the assembly that was called to elect two new members to the Fifa Council as Africa’s representation was increased from five to seven seats. Ghana’s Kwesi Nyantakyi and Almamy Kabele Camara (guinea) won the election and will now sit on the powerful Fifa Council.