Ex-CAF boss Issa Hayatou wins appeal over FIFA one-year ban

Former African football boss Issa Hayatou has won his appeal over a one-year ban imposed for a breach of FIFA’s code of ethics.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced its ruling in the 75-year-old’s favour on Saturday, declaring there was “insufficient evidence” to support FIFA’s allegations of commercial malpractice.

Hayatou’s ban was lifted on the eve of the Africa Cup of Nations final staged in his native Cameroon.

FIFA had sanctioned him last year over his role in a controversial $1 billion TV and marketing rights deal with France’s Lagardere Sports.

The deal, signed in 2015, gave exclusive rights to Lagardere of CAF-run competitions for 12 years from 2017 to 2028.

Hayatou was president of the Confederation of African Football for 29 years before being ousted by Ahmad Ahmad in a 2017 election.

He served as interim FIFA boss for a short spell following the suspension of Sepp Blatter and before the election of Gianni Infantino in February 2016.

The deal with Lagardere was scrapped once his near three-decade spell running football in Africa came to an end.