Madagascar’s Ahmad Ahmad has defeated the incumbent Confederation of African Football (CAF) president, Issa Hayatou, to emerge the new head of Africa’s football governing body in Thursday’s election held in Addis –Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ahmad polled 34 votes, while Hayatou garnered 20 in the keenly contested election. With the development, Hayatou will now finally step down as CAF president after 28 years.
The election was conducted at CAF’s 39th General Assembly in Addis Ababa.
Hayatou has been in power since 1988, when he replaced Abdel Halim Mohammad. After the results were announced, Ahmad was carried on the shoulders by supporters to the podium.
He becomes the body’s seventh president after Abdel Aziz Abdallah Salem (1957-1958), Abdel Aziz Moustafa (1958-1968), Abdel Halim Muhammad (1968-1972), Yidnekatchew Tessema (1972-1987), Abdel Halim Muhammad (1987-1988) and Issa Hayatou (1988-2017)