CAIRO: African Football Confederation president Issa Hayatou was recovering in hospital on Friday after collapsing at the FIFA-CAF World Cup conference in Cairo.
Hayatou, 64, fainted during a closed session late Thursday and was taken to hospital in the Egyptian capital for tests. He was kept in overnight for observation.
"The condition of Hayatou is stable," CAF media director Suleiman Habuba told The Associated Press on Friday. "He has suffered from stress in the past but now he is in good health."
Habuba said Hayatou’s collapse was because of stress and fatigue after the "big effort" he had made in the last few days to prepare for the World Cup conference, where world football officials were meeting to analyze the 2010 World Cup — the first in Africa.
Habuba said Hayatou could still attend the conference’s closing ceremony later Friday, but it was not certain.
Hayatou, of Cameroon, has been CAF president for 23 years. He is a FIFA vice president and member of the World Cup organizing committee.