Issa Hayatou, the former President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), passed away on Thursday, a day before his 78th birthday. The Cameroonian icon died after a prolonged illness.
Hayatou, who led CAF for 29 years from 1988 to 2017, was a significant figure in African football. He also served as FIFA's acting president from 2015 to 2016, following Sepp Blatter's suspension.
During his tenure, he often found himself at odds with Nigerian fans, who accused him of influencing key matches involving the Super Eagles. While these claims were unsubstantiated, they fuelled a long-standing rivalry between Nigeria and next-door neighbours Cameroon.
Here are three (in)famous instances of decisions that went in favour of Issa Hayatou's country and against Nigeria.
Issa Hayatou's first Africa Cup of Nations Final as CAF President
In the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, Nigeria faced Cameroon, and many Nigerians believed Hayatou's influence played a role in their 1-0 loss.
The Super Eagles, then known as the Green Eagles, had a goal by Henry Nwosu controversially disallowed for offside by Mauritanian referee Idrissa Sarr.
Despite Nigeria's protests, the referee stood by his decision, leading to suspicions that Issa Hayatou, who had just been voted in as CAF President, was behind the call.
The controversy deepened in the 55th minute when Sarr awarded Cameroon a penalty after Roger Milla went down in the box. Many Nigerians felt it was a soft decision, while others argued the foul occurred on the edge of the area.
Emmanuel Kunde converted, giving Cameroon the lead and their second continental title at the expense of Nigeria. For the first time, doubts arose over Hayatou’s neutrality; it would not be the last.
2000 AFCON Final: The heist in Lagos
Twelve years later, Nigeria and Cameroon met again in the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations final in Lagos as Nigeria hosted the tournament.
With memories of the 1988 final still fresh, Nigerian fans were wary of Issa Hayatou's potential influence. Moroccan referee Mourad Daami officiated the match, but his appointment did little to ease Nigerian concerns.
Cameroon took a 2-0 lead with goals from Samuel Eto’o and Patrick Mboma. However, Nigeria fought back to level the score through Raphael Chukwu Ndukwe and Austin Jay-Jay Okocha.
The match went to penalties after extra time, and the decisive moment came when Victor Ikpeba’s penalty, which hit the crossbar and bounced behind the goal line, was not awarded as a goal.
With no goal-line technology at the time to check if the ball crossed the line or not, the on-field decision stood.
Nigerians again pointed fingers at Hayatou, believing that if it had been Cameroon, the goal would have stood. The Indomitable Lions ultimately won the title 4-3 on penalties.
Jay-Jay Okocha vs Samuel Eto’o (African Footballer of the Year Award)
Nigerian football legend Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha is often regarded as one of the greatest African players never to have won the African Footballer of the Year award.
Despite being nominated three times, Okocha never claimed the coveted prize. In 1998, he finished second behind Morocco’s Mustapha Hadji, and in 2003 and 2004, he lost out to Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o and Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba, respectively.
The Nigeria international's dazzling performances for Bolton Wanderers during this period, where he was instrumental in helping the club avoid relegation, earned him the BBC’s African Footballer of the Year award in both of those years.
However, the CAF award eluded him, leading many Nigerians and Africans to accuse Issa Hayatou of favoring his compatriot Eto’o over Okocha.
