News of Issa Hayatou’s passing spread quickly on the afternoon of August 8, 2024. The 78-year-old died in Paris, France, after battling an illness, according to multiple sources. After nearly three decades at the helm of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the iconic president of Africa’s largest football governing body was unable to secure re-election in 2017 and subsequently withdrew from public life due to declining health.
Born into a royal family in Garoua, Cameroon, Hayatou was elected president of the Cameroonian Football Federation in 1986, serving until 1988. That same year, with the endorsement of President Paul Biya, he ran for and won the presidency of CAF, a position he held uninterrupted until 2017, when he was defeated by Madagascar’s Ahmad Ahmad.
For an entire generation, Hayatou played a pivotal role in advancing African football. His achievements include increasing the number of World Cup spots for African nations to five, ensuring the regular organization of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in even-numbered years, restructuring CAF with the establishment of regional offices, and organizing competitions across various categories.
Hayatou, whose brother Sadou Hayatou served as Cameroon’s Prime Minister from April 1991 to April 1992, is noted as the only African to have served as president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). He was the acting president of FIFA from October 2015 to February 2016 while then-president Joseph Sepp Blatter faced judicial proceedings for corruption. Additionally, Issa Hayatou was a member of the International Olympic Committee.
