Hayatou to Challenge FIFA Chief
By RAWYA RAGEH
Associated Press Writer

March 16, 2002, 2:19 PM EST

CAIRO, Egypt -- Issa Hayatou will try to become the first African president
of FIFA, challenging incumbent Sepp Blatter when soccer officials vote in
May.

Hayatou, who is from Cameroon and has headed the African Football
Confederation since 1988, announced his candidacy Saturday and promised to
reform soccer's governing body.

Hayatou, 53, won immediate backing from Lennart Johansson, president of the
Union of European Football Associations, and Chung Mong-joon, president of
the South Korean Football Association.

In the 1998 election to succeed Joao Havelange, who retired after 24 years,
Blatter defeated Johansson 111-80 on the first ballot, 17 votes shy of the
two-thirds needed to win. With the second ballot requiring only a majority,
Johansson conceded.

Four years ago, Blatter appeared to win by holding onto voting blocs in Asia
and the Americas and cutting deeply into Johansson's supposed support in
Europe and Africa. Each nation has one vote.

Since then, Blatter has been accused by UEFA of financial mismanagement,
especially following the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner, ISL/ISMM/,
which FIFA says caused it to lose about $30 million.

Blatter is FIFA's eighth president.

This year's election is scheduled for May 29 in Seoul, two days before the
start of the World Cup.
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, visit:

        http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/aam.html

AAM Website:  http://www.danenet.wicip.org/aam
----------------------------------------------------------------------------