Issa Hayatou: " I was going to resign After the AFCON 2019,"
After his failure at the head of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Issa Hayatou has erased from the media scene. The
former chairman of the CAB came out of his silence on Thursday in an
interview with Crtv Radio, after his appointment for a three-year
renewable term, by the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, as Chairman
of the Board of Directors. Administration of the
National Football Academy (Anafoot) where he will work with Carl Enow
Ngachu, appointed to the post of General Manager.
In this interview, this icon of African football, aged 70, returns to the stakes of this structure and its defeat in the CAF.
You are the very first Anafoot chairman, how did you receive this appointment?I welcomed it with great pride and joy. I know that this is a rather difficult function, but I believe that I should not disappoint the President of the Republic who has entrusted me with this task. I will try to do everything possible so that the Cameroonian athletes, especially the President of the Republic, are not disappointed by our behavior. I have just seen the director general who wanted us to start working right now, and I asked him to give me time to know the content of this decree in order to give my point of view. It is a sense of pride that I have today, to have been chosen by the head of state to be the very first board cahirman of this academy.
On the subject of the CEO and his deputy, they are two people you know very well ...I know them very well, but in another context. They were coaches, I saw them train, in the framework of certain demonstrations of the national teams of Cameroon throughout the world and Cameroon. But these are now new functions that we must absolutely assume in order to achieve the objectives of the legislator.
While waiting to enter the technical files of this new structure, strong of your international experience in football, what is your view on the creation of a football academy in Cameroon by the Head of State?
You know, the Head of State wants Cameroon , which is a great football country to emerge. We must not drag our feet to be caught up by some countries. It is in this perspective, I think, I have not discussed with him, that he created this academy. It is for this reason that I say that we will do everything so as not to disappoint him. The creation of this structure will give Cameroon the possibility to occupy the rank that has always been his particularly in football. In Africa, Cameroon is the second country to hold the continental trophy. It is a record that we must not ignore on the contrary, we must do everything possible to maintain. Beyond the national team, there is the women's football which is nascent, all this should normally incite us to make a lot of efforts so that the training is in the image of the great team itself.
I share with you some important elements that are on the menu of the Anafoot workbook: the initiation and coaching of young people to high-level sport, training of trainers, expertise in Football-related trades; The issues that have no secrets for you?Of course. Everything young football, when I got to the Caf in 1988, did not exist. It was under my administration that Caf had to create all that. Soccer young, feminine, and others. It's in practice and that's what I've always done for 30 years at the head of the CAF. I will not say that I master everything, but there are the realities of Cameroon, Africa and the world. As far as we are concerned, in Cameroon, although we are among the leading nations of football, we must also have our way of doing and seeing to be jealous of the progress we have achieved through football.
Sport in general has become a strategic challenge for the development of nations, what can you tell the Cameroonian public about the importance of this type of structure created by the Head of State for the support of development through sport ?We can only applaud. Unfortunately, it is I who am appointed, I can not throw myself flowers, but we can only thank that the Head of State who was visionary, who saw that it is a necessary and indispensable structure for " The development of Cameroonian youth, Cameroonian football. So we can only thank him and welcome this act he has put down at the level of our country. We must do everything we can not to disappoint him. The Director, his deputy and myself, and the administration that we are going to train, should be able to take this task seriously in order to maintain the level of Cameroonian football and improve it further.
On a personal level, after your brilliant career abroad, the Anafoot is a triumphant return to the fold, a golden retreat?
Laughter... Of course ! It is a golden retreat. You can not imagine how the head of state challenged the African community. You know, we're coming out of an election where I lost. The President of the Republic, by presenting this act today, has shown the world that Cameroon needs his son. I am truly honored and proud. It is for this reason that I say whoever wants to hear it, that I will do everything, so that the President of the Republic is not disappointed. I take this opportunity to once again thank him for everything and we will do everything possible so that Cameroonian football can always take flight.
You are the very first Anafoot chairman, how did you receive this appointment?I welcomed it with great pride and joy. I know that this is a rather difficult function, but I believe that I should not disappoint the President of the Republic who has entrusted me with this task. I will try to do everything possible so that the Cameroonian athletes, especially the President of the Republic, are not disappointed by our behavior. I have just seen the director general who wanted us to start working right now, and I asked him to give me time to know the content of this decree in order to give my point of view. It is a sense of pride that I have today, to have been chosen by the head of state to be the very first board cahirman of this academy.
On the subject of the CEO and his deputy, they are two people you know very well ...I know them very well, but in another context. They were coaches, I saw them train, in the framework of certain demonstrations of the national teams of Cameroon throughout the world and Cameroon. But these are now new functions that we must absolutely assume in order to achieve the objectives of the legislator.
While waiting to enter the technical files of this new structure, strong of your international experience in football, what is your view on the creation of a football academy in Cameroon by the Head of State?
You know, the Head of State wants Cameroon , which is a great football country to emerge. We must not drag our feet to be caught up by some countries. It is in this perspective, I think, I have not discussed with him, that he created this academy. It is for this reason that I say that we will do everything so as not to disappoint him. The creation of this structure will give Cameroon the possibility to occupy the rank that has always been his particularly in football. In Africa, Cameroon is the second country to hold the continental trophy. It is a record that we must not ignore on the contrary, we must do everything possible to maintain. Beyond the national team, there is the women's football which is nascent, all this should normally incite us to make a lot of efforts so that the training is in the image of the great team itself.
I share with you some important elements that are on the menu of the Anafoot workbook: the initiation and coaching of young people to high-level sport, training of trainers, expertise in Football-related trades; The issues that have no secrets for you?Of course. Everything young football, when I got to the Caf in 1988, did not exist. It was under my administration that Caf had to create all that. Soccer young, feminine, and others. It's in practice and that's what I've always done for 30 years at the head of the CAF. I will not say that I master everything, but there are the realities of Cameroon, Africa and the world. As far as we are concerned, in Cameroon, although we are among the leading nations of football, we must also have our way of doing and seeing to be jealous of the progress we have achieved through football.
Sport in general has become a strategic challenge for the development of nations, what can you tell the Cameroonian public about the importance of this type of structure created by the Head of State for the support of development through sport ?We can only applaud. Unfortunately, it is I who am appointed, I can not throw myself flowers, but we can only thank that the Head of State who was visionary, who saw that it is a necessary and indispensable structure for " The development of Cameroonian youth, Cameroonian football. So we can only thank him and welcome this act he has put down at the level of our country. We must do everything we can not to disappoint him. The Director, his deputy and myself, and the administration that we are going to train, should be able to take this task seriously in order to maintain the level of Cameroonian football and improve it further.
On a personal level, after your brilliant career abroad, the Anafoot is a triumphant return to the fold, a golden retreat?
Laughter... Of course ! It is a golden retreat. You can not imagine how the head of state challenged the African community. You know, we're coming out of an election where I lost. The President of the Republic, by presenting this act today, has shown the world that Cameroon needs his son. I am truly honored and proud. It is for this reason that I say whoever wants to hear it, that I will do everything, so that the President of the Republic is not disappointed. I take this opportunity to once again thank him for everything and we will do everything possible so that Cameroonian football can always take flight.
Through this nomination, do you mean that the sadness of the failure at the Caf is erased?
No, I never was sad. Even though I was elected after the African Cup of Nations in 2019, I was going to resign. If Cameroon was not approached to organize Can 2019, I was not even going to introduce myself. My relatives know that. So I'm not sad, so yes the way it was done. Normally, I do not see who can beat me at the CAF level. But there were external hazards which led this assembly not to renew my candidacy. I am not sad, I am very happy today with the act that the President of the Republic has just asked. I can only rejoice, shout out loud and say that my country is behind me for the development of football in Cameroon, so in Africa.
No, I never was sad. Even though I was elected after the African Cup of Nations in 2019, I was going to resign. If Cameroon was not approached to organize Can 2019, I was not even going to introduce myself. My relatives know that. So I'm not sad, so yes the way it was done. Normally, I do not see who can beat me at the CAF level. But there were external hazards which led this assembly not to renew my candidacy. I am not sad, I am very happy today with the act that the President of the Republic has just asked. I can only rejoice, shout out loud and say that my country is behind me for the development of football in Cameroon, so in Africa.
Tags: CAMFOOT
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