Football’s world governing body has executed a bizarre U-turn amid criticism over the appointment of Issa Hayatou to oversee the London 2012 football tournament at a time when he is under investigation by the International Olympic Committee for alleged corruption.
An announcement on the website of the Confederation of African Football on Tuesday read: “CAF president Issa Hayatou has been appointed by world soccer governing body, Fifa, as chairman of the organising committee for the Olympic football tournaments and the Fifa Goal bureau.”
It is believed Fifa also confirmed to journalists who made inquiries on the same day that he had been appointed to chair both committees. It seems Hayatou’s name also appeared on Fifa’s own website. But late yesterday, in the face of mounting criticism over the appointment, it issued a new, opaque, statement.
“Due to a technical error, appointments for Fifa standing committees have appeared on the Fifa website. The appointments for the chairman and deputy chairman of the Fifa standing committees will be communicated in due course,” it said.
“Therefore, Issa Hayatou has not been appointed as chairman of the organising committee for the Olympic football tournaments.”
An IOC spokeswoman confirmed that Hayatou, who has been on Fifa’s ruling executive committee and president of the Confederation of African Football for more than two decades, remained under investigation by its independent ethics commission over corruption allegations.
“The ethics commission is independent but my understanding is that the investigation is still continuing,” she said. It is believed that the IOC’s ethics commission will come to a decision within weeks, which is then likely to be discussed by the IOC’s executive board in December.
If the commission, chaired by Youssoupha Ndiaye of Senegal, finds against Hayatou, then he faces being expelled from the IOC. Hayatou has been a member of the IOC for the last decade.