Africa's Soccer Strongman A Candidate For Fifa President?

Africa's soccer strongman a candidate for FIFA president? [...] FIFA's senior vice president, Hayatou, a 68-year-old former physical education teacher, has played many roles in the quarter of a century he has sat on world soccer's powerful executive committee, where only Blatter ranks higher. Once a critical opponent of Blatter in a FIFA presidential election in 2002, Hayatou re-emerged from a resounding defeat to be a loyal lieutenant, whipping up support for the controversial FIFA president. At the Women's World Cup final in Canada on Sunday, Hayatou will stand in for his boss — the man he recently called "my dear Sepp" and the same man he and others filed a criminal complaint against and tried to force out of FIFA before the 2002 election. "Hayatou is as strong a uniting figure in Africa as you can get, and Blatter is going to remain very, very influential in the way the landscape is shifting," African soccer analyst Colin Udoh said. Once faced at a news conference with an uncomfortable question regarding his voting history at FIFA, Hayatou responded by staring the young reporter down and questioning his age and qualifications to challenge a senior official. With a well-connected family — his older brother was prime minister of Cameroon — Hayatou was secretary general of the Cameroon Football Federation at 28, the head of the sports ministry in his mid-30s and president of the Confederation of African Football and the most senior soccer official on the continent by 41.

 

Welcome to Wopular!

Welcome to Wopular

Wopular is an online newspaper rack, giving you a summary view of the top headlines from the top news sites.

Senh Duong (Founder)
Wopular, MWB, RottenTomatoes

Subscribe to Wopular's RSS Fan Wopular on Facebook Follow Wopular on Twitter Follow Wopular on Google Plus

MoviesWithButter : Our Sister Site

More World News