CAS lifts ban on former CAF president Issa Hayatou

Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has lifted the one year ban from football-related activities world football governing body, Fifa had imposed on former long-serving president of Confederation of African Football, (CAF), Issa Hayatou last year.

Fifa had last year slapped its former vice president with the ban beginning on August 3 after it said the ex-CAF boss had breached code of ethics.

Fifa’s investigations were centred on $1 billion deal Hayatou signed with French company, Lagardere Sport for the commercialisation of media and marketing rights of CAF-organised competitions while he served as president of the continental football body. 

The 12-year deal which was signed in 2015 but went into effect in 2017 is the biggest deal in African football history, but Fifa’s adjudicatory chamber ruled that it was not competitive and could cause significant damage to CAF.

However, on Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, (CAS), ruling on an appeal filed by Hayatou nullified the decision by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Fifa Ethics Committee saying he did not violate any provisions of the Code of Ethics.

The Lausanne-based sport tribunal ruled that “the decision of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Fifa Ethics Committee of June 17, 2021 is set aside.” Besides, the court ruled that Fifa should contribute to Hayatou’s legal fees to the tune of $5,403 (5,000 Swiss Francs).

The 75-year-old Hayatou served as CAF president for 29 years from 1988 to 2017. While as CAF boss, he served as senior vice president of Fifa for 25 years, from 1992 to 2017 time during which he also served as Fifa acting president for four months, from October 2015 to February 2016.

At that time, then FIFA president, Sepp Blatter had been banned from all football-related activities in 2015 as a part of the Fifa corruption scandal.

With the ban now lifted, Hayatou who was conspicuously absent at the opening ceremony of the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, (Afcon) in his homeland, Cameroon can now freely take part in the closing ceremony and final at the 60,000 seater Olembe Stadium in Yaounde on Sunday.

Hayatou, who is currently CAF’s honorary president, had in 2014 played a key role in the awarding of the hosting rights of the 2019 tournament to Cameroon. CAF later moved the tournament from his home country to Egypt citing infrastructural delays by Cameroon. The central African country was then handed the 2021 tournament, which was delayed by 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A prince of Garoua, one of the host cities of the delayed Afcon 2021, Hayatou has been credited with raising the profile of African football during his nearly three-decade tenure as CAF president.