Antananarivo, MADAGASCAR: Issa Hayatou’s reign as the Confederation of African Football CAF president finally came to an end on Thursday after he lost to Ahmed Ahmad of Madagascar in the elections.
Ahmed, the Madagascan Football Association’s head, garnered 34 votes to defeat the Cameroonian who managed 20 votes in the elections held in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
Hayatou aged 70, who was vying for his eighth term has been the head of CAF since 1988 making him the longest serving president of the federation with his 29 years tenure.
Under his leadership, the number of teams participating in the African Nations Cup AFCON increased from eight to 16, while Africa was added two extra slots in the World Cup to have five teams.
Ahmed Ahmad take charges when FIFA president Gianni Infantino who was in attendance during the elections, has intended at increasing the number of African teams in the World cup to eight.
This is if the decision to have a 48-team World Cup starting 2026 will be upheld.
