By Toby Prince
Confederation of African Football (CAF) boss, Issa Hayatou, has replaced Sepp Blatter as FIFA president in an acting capacity after the Swiss was relieved of his duties and banned from all footballing activity for 90 days.
Also suspended were UEFA President Michel Platini and FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke.
Those sanctions can be extended by up to 45 days, which would effectively end Blatter’s reign over world football – with the FIFA congress where a replacement will be chosen scheduled for February 26 next year.
The investigation into Blatter’s conduct relates to allegations that he signed an “unfavourable” contract with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in 2005, one that market experts claim handed over World Cup television rights for a fraction of their market value.
He is also accused of making a “disloyal payment” in 2011 to Platini, whose bid to replace Blatter as FIFA president appears all but over.
A statement on FIFA website read: “Today, in accordance with Fifa’s Code of Ethics, Joseph S. Blatter was relieved of all his duties as Fifa President following the decision of the Independent Chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee to provisionally ban him from all football activities on a national and international level.
“Joseph S. Blatter, for the duration of the 90-day ban, is not allowed to represent Fifa in any capacity, act on the organisation’s behalf, or communicate to media or other stakeholders as a Fifa representative.
“As mandated by article 32 (6) of the Fifa Statutes, Issa Hayatou, as the longest-serving vice-president on Fifa’s Executive Committee, will serve as Acting President of Fifa.”
Hayatou was elected CAF president in 1988, and previously ran for the Fifa presidency in 2002 – which ended in a crushing defeat to Blatter.
