Sports Reporter
Issa Hayatou had beef with Southern African teams.
He denied Zimbabwe the chance to host the AFCON in 2000 for having had voted for FIFA’s then President Sepp Blatter, the post he wanted.
Blatter flew into the Africa continent in that time and got the support. Southern Africa voted for him, and it angered Hayatou who instead took it personal and became hostile to the region.
In case of Zimbabwe he made claims that the country was not ready to host a continental soccer showcase, the claims were later identified by some as a way to fix the Southern African country.
Some other countries which were in fact not ready were given the green light to host the AFCON, even on co-hosting arrangements, as was the case with the Gabon and Equatorial Guinea who co-hosted the 2012 AFCON.
Many queried why was the same not extended to Zimbabwe, there was nothing wrong for the country to co-host with, South Africa or Zambia or any one of its neighbours with better stadiums had he been factual in his claims.
Burkina Faso who had poor facilities was given the baton to hold the tournament ahead of Zimbabwe who had better infrastructure.
He also did not want South Africa to host the World Cup in 2010 and instead wanted Morocco to stage the world’s biggest sporting tournament.
Most recently before he was voted out, the Egyptian authorities had indicated that they were contemplating prosecuting him for corruption concerning charges of corruptly handling of broadcasting rights.
They say they had proof that he violated some sections of the laws to do with television rights in screening matches.
As if that was not enough, there were reports that he wanted to fix the recent CAF Club Champions League match between Caps United and TP Mazembe, as punishment to ZIFA President Philip Chiyangwa for having been the campaign manager for his opponent in the race, Ahmad Ahmad, who went on to win it.
Speaking after the win, Chiyagwa said it was good omen for Southern Africa and Zimbabwe in particular that Hayatou was gone, he had promised to deal with Chiyangwa, and the region for expressing their support for Ahmad.
