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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: CAF PRESIDENT DIES

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

On this date, 19 August 1987, the president of Confederation of African Football (CAF), Ethiopia’s Ydnekatchew Tessema died aged 65 in Addis Ababa after a long battle with cancer.

Ydnekatchew Tessema

He was CAF president from 1972 to 1987. He was a footballer, a coach, lecturer and above all, a champion of African football.

The latter was a course he dedicated his entire working life. He was capped 15 times for Ethiopia before becoming the coach and guided Ethiopia to the Africa Cup of Nations’ title in 1962.

He also helped in establishing the Ethiopian Sports Office, the forerunner to today’s Ethiopian Football Federation.

Yidnekachew was instrumental in founding member of CAF in 1957 and was the deputy president between 1964 and 1972.

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He was also member of the African Sport Congress, International Olympics Committee, FIFA and President of the African Olympics Committee.

By 1986, his health had started failing him and made efforts to anoint Omar Sey of Gambia as his successor.

Sey who beat Nigeria’s Oyo Orok Oyo to FIFA’s Executive Committee seat in 1988 however declined to be CAF president, having been appointed foreign affairs minister in his country.

Tessema then turned to Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, then a 40 year old first term member of CAF as a trusted successor.

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Tessema died in 1987 before the next election that was due for 10 March 1988 in Casablanca, Morocco. Sudan’s Abdel Halim Muhammad acted as president for 204 days before Hayatou was elected.

Hayatou went on to reign for a record 29 years and six days.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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