Interim FIFA president Issa Hayatou of Cameroon has surgery for kidney transplant

ZURICH – Interim FIFA president Issa Hayatou has had successful surgery for a kidney transplant, the governing body said Friday.

The 69-year-old Hayatou, who is from Cameroon, has undergone regular dialysis treatment for several years.

FIFA and the African soccer confederation issued a joint statement saying that Hayatou had the surgery on Thursday. They did not specify where, though Hayatou spends much of his time in Paris.

“Issa Hayatou has never hidden the fact that, for several years now, he has been suffering from a renal insufficiency, a situation that has not, however, prevented him from fully performing his duties,” FIFA said in a statement. “He will continue to fulfil his role as Acting FIFA President as intended.”

His next formal FIFA duty is to chair a Dec. 2-3 meeting of the executive committee in Zurich.

Hayatou did not attend the Under-17 World Cup final in Chile over the weekend — a 2-0 win for Nigeria over Mali — even though two African teams were playing.

Hayatou became interim president when Sepp Blatter was suspended on Oct. 8 by the FIFA ethics committee while under investigation for financial wrongdoing.

As a FIFA executive committee member for 25 years, Hayatou was FIFA’s senior vice-president and automatically stepped up to lead the governing body.

Hayatou and Blatter have both been hospitalized this week. Blatter has recently been treated for stress-related issues. His adviser, Klaus Stoehlker, said Blatter was discharged on Wednesday.