Sports

Ahmad Ahmad dethrones Issa Hayatou as CAF President (Updated)

Published

7 years ago

March 16, 2017

Ahmad Ahmad dethrones Issa Hayatou as CAF President

The football chief of Madagascar Ahmad Ahmad has dethroned Issa Hayatou of Cameroon at the ongoing CAF elections being staged in Adis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Ahmad clinched 34 votes of the 54 votes up for grabs during the elections while Issa Hayatou’s got 20 votes to end his 29-year reign at the helm of CAF.

The result means a change in leadership for the first time since Cameroonian Hayatou took charge in 1988. Ahmad becomes only the seventh CAF president in the governing body’s 60-year history.

Here’s the list of Caf Presidents in history:

Issa Hayatou (Cameroon) – 1988 – 2017

Abdel Halim Mohamed (Sudan) – 1987 – 1988 (acting capacity)

Ydnekatchew Tessema (Ethiopia) – 1972 – 1987

Abdel Halim Mohamed (Sudan) – 1968 – 1972

Abdel Aziz Mostafa (Egypt) – 1958 – 1968

Abdel Aziz Abdallah Salem (Egypt) – 1957 – 1958

Read Also: CAF PRESIDENCY: Banned Adamu goes against Nigeria, says Hayatou is ‘God-sent’

The departure of Hayatou will mean the 70-year-old will lose his position and his place on the ruling council at the world football governing body, FIFA.

He had been challenged for the Caf presidency only twice before and both times won with landslide victories.

The new Caf leader, Ahmad, who has also worked for his country’s government, did promise to bring change to the Federation during his campaign.

Ahmad had the support of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Boss Mr. Amaju Pinnick and other FA chiefs, especially members of the Council of Southern African Football Association (COSAFA) were also on his side.

The victory was expected as a number of Hayatou’s loyalists turned against him before the election. So much so that a close source to the Cameroonian reportedly said he (Hayatou) has promised to resign if he wins the CAF election against his Madagascar opposition.

But alas, the opposition won. And the new president will be in office for the 2017-2021 cycle.

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