- Issa Hayatou died last Friday in France, on the eve of his 78th birthday
- He was CAF president for 29 years and interim FIFA president between 2015 and 2016
- His mortal remains arrived Cameroon on Thursday, August 15 and he will be buried in Garoua
The Mortal remains of legendary Confederation of African (CAF) president, Issa Hayatou arrived Cameroon on Thursday evening to a warm reception from a huge crowd at the Nsimalen International Airport in Yaoundé though it was beamed on national television.
Hayatou died on August 9 in France after a protracted illness which had kept him off cameras for months.
As expected for the funeral of a man who led CAF for 29 years, hundreds of Cameroonians and international visitors filled the Airport premises on Thursday to welcome his mortal remains.
Among the attendees were significant figures in the sports industry, including Hayatou’s successor, Ahmad Ahmad, and his long-time friend, Constant Omari, Cameroon’s National Olympic and Sports chambers president Hamad Kalkaba Malboum plus Samuel Eto’o Fils who heads the Cameroon Football Federation these days.
His mortal remains will be flown to Garoua on Friday morning for final rights and burial of the former ANAFOOT board chair
Hayatou, who was CAF president for 29 years before quitting in 2017 to give way to Ahmad Ahmad via a hot-blooded elections will be laid to rest in his native Garoua.
CAF president, Dr Patrice Motsepe, his Exco members and presidents of member associations of the body are in Cameroon to attend the funeral of the fallen hero.
FIFA president, Gianni Infantino will also attend the funeral in Garoua, despite his frosty relationship with Hayatou before and after his departure from CAF.
Evolution of Hayatou and revolution of football
The Garoua native grew from a physical education tutor to a member of the Cameroon national teams of Basketball and Athletics, before becoming Secretary General and president of his country’s football federation which eventually propelled him to CAF.
President of CAF for almost three decades, he oversaw particularly successful FIFA World Cup appearances by Senegal, Nigeria, and Cameroon, and pushed for African places in the finals to increase from two to five, with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa seeing the hosts garner an automatic sixth spot for an African team.
Hayatou presided over both the bid and the organising committee for the 2010 games, the first in Africa.
Under Hayatou, the African Cup of Nations finals expanded from eight to 16 teams, in a Confederation of 54 nations in six zones and five regional bodies.
Club competitions also underwent a similar growth in both numbers and scale, with more clubs participating in the African Cup of Champions Clubs, the CAF Confederation Cup (begun in 2004 for national cup winners and high-placed league teams), the CAF Cup, and the CAF Super Cup.
Peers, colleagues and friends of the football industry including CAF and FIFA have poured out condolence messages to his family since he passed on four days ago.
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