Esin advises Hayatou to bow out honourably

Former Super Eagles Midfielder, Etim John Esin, has advised Confederation of African Football (CAF) President, Issa Hayatou, to bow out honourably instead of waiting to be disgraced at the forthcoming CAF general polls.

Esin, who said Hayatou has overstayed his usefulness as the boss of the continent’s football ruling body, said the time has come for the younger generation to take over the leadership of Africa’s football.

Hayatou, who has been in power since 1988, is being challenged by Madagascar’s FA President, Ahmad Ahmad.

Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, Esin said he would give his backing to whoever will contest against Hayatou, adding that prayer is that he does not return as president of CAF.

“The man has been there since 1988 and up till now, that is almost 29 years. Only one person has been in power running African football. Hayatou has over stayed his welcome in CAF and the best thing for him to do is to honourably relinquish power. It is about time he left the scene so that the younger generation can take over and move our football forward.

“The NFF president is the one that has the mandate to pick whoever he thinks can serve the continent well as CAF president after due consultation with the board members. And since he has received that, it is now left for him to implement that.

“I know there is so much bickering and corruption in all of these things. You can imagine someone at CAF having so much money and power trying to block everybody in the Congress, delegates and all the Africa Football Federations.

“The politics there is too much and my hope is that at the end of the day someone else will take over power regardless of his pedigree in football management.

“At every FIFA and CAF meetings you see Hayatou on the television sleeping. This alone points to the fact that the man is old and he should go and rest,” Esin said.