There are mixed reactions on the candidature of Issa Hayatou, the longest serving President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) who announced he would challenge Sepp Blatter the sitting president for FIFA's plume job. In Accra, the general feeling is that Africa must support one of her citizens to sit over decision-making in world football but even those who clamour for a Hayatou victory are not sure if the 55 year-old Cameroonian has the ability and the structures to upstage Blatter.

Mr Emmanuel Asamoah Owusu Ansah, vice chairman of the Ghana Football Association told the GNA Sports that Hayatou's ambition is proper because it is fuelled by his ability to perform creditably as he has been doing at the helm of African football.

He said he would support the CAF president not because he is an African but because he "can exude the same brilliance that made him change the face of African football when he becomes FIFA president." "I do not support his candidature from an African point of view but his credentials and his achievements are enough to offer him a new challenge. "I believe Hayatou will be to world football what Kofi Annan is to world politics," Mr Owusu Ansah added.

Reacting to the timing of Hayatou's declaration which has come shortly after Mr Farrah Addo, his close friend and an influential member of CAF executive committee had disclosed that Blatter had bought African votes to win the elections four years ago, the Mr Owusu Ansah, a lawyer by profession, said he saw nothing wrong with it "provided Hayatou's candidature is within the time limit."

Lauding the Cameroonian for his achievements in football, Mr Owusu Ansah said Hayatou has managed to increase African's representation in the World Cup from two to three then to five and that he has redefined the African Champions' League and introduced money into it to make it more attractive and competitive. "We now have three continental club tournaments which are all very well patronised and these have resulted in the rise in the African game. He has also expanded the Cup of African Nations and this has offered many more countries the opportunity to participate in it.

"Issa has been a vice president of FIFA and this has prepared him for the big job and it is my belief that he would excel and shame his detractors." Asked if Hayatou has the numbers to beat Blatter, Mr Owusu Ansah said the Cameroonian could get majority of the votes from Europe because of his alliance with Lennart Johansson, UEFA president who has been very critical of the financial position of FIFA under Blatter. He said indications are that most Asian votes would also go to Hayatou as Chung Mong-Joon, the powerful South Korean president, has openly antagonised Blatter and would lobby most of his colleagues to vote for Hayatou.

However Mr Julius Osai, a veteran football administrator said it would be very difficult for Hayatou to beat Blatter at the polls. Analysing the chances of the CAF boss, Mr Osai said though Hayatou might have the support of the UEFA President and the Asian power broker, their alliance could not influence the generality of members of their various confederations. He said each association would weigh the pros and cons, consider the advantages and disadvantages before taking sides adding that, "there will be no popular movement but rather, a stringent voting pattern that would take into consideration the benefits derivable from the reign of either of the two candidates."

Mr Osai said nobody would be in a position to establish how far Blatter might have infiltrated into the ranks of the three confederations, which appear on paper to be behind Hayatou. He said with the multilingual endowment of Blatter, coupled with his excellent oratory ability, the race could go to the wire. Africa, Europe and Asia have between them 148 votes, enough to win the bid for Hayatou from a pool of 215 candidates who would be expected to elect the next FIFA president. There has not been any official statement from the GFA and it appears many other associations on the continent are hemmed in a pool of uncertainty and would not want to take sides openly.