As newsafricng.com predicts, Gianni Infantino may have lost support in Europe, some part of Asia and CONCACAF, but Africa’s 54 votes could keep him in power.
As the FIFA president faces pressure over a scrapped $4.2 billion commercial deal, five senior African football officials have publicly backed him ahead of next March’s FIFA presidential election. Their support comes just days after Infantino abandoned his controversial plan to sell a stake in future World Cup revenue, a move that drew criticism from other confederations.
The Confederation of African Football’s executive committee meets on Thursday and the abandoned project is still on the agenda. CAF has not taken an official position, but the signals from its leadership are clear.
CAF Vice President Fouzi Lekjaa of Morocco and FIFA Council members Hany Abo Rida of Egypt, Hamidou Djibrilla of Niger and Ahmed Yahya of Mauritania have all issued similarly worded statements welcoming Infantino’s decision to drop the plan and praising his leadership.
Veron Mosengo-Omba, president of the DR Congo Football Federation and former CAF general secretary who studied with Infantino in Switzerland, also voiced support.
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NIgeria’s FIFA executive member Amaju Pinnick has also voiced his support for him.
Africa has been central to Infantino’s tenure since 2016, when promises to more than double development funding helped secure his first election. That money matters. FIFA guarantees each of its 211 members $8 million per four-year cycle through FIFA Forward, and CAF now adds an annual grant for its members.
“We have no sponsors. So how do we compete?” said Saïd Ali Athouman, president of the Comoros Football Federation. “The richest nations can train players, have infrastructure and equipment. Most European countries don’t have these problems.”
Fleetwood Haiya of Malawi echoed him: “Malawi needs money. Malawi needs stadiums.”
CAF President Patrice Motsepe also praised Infantino days before the World Cup revenue scandal broke, calling him “loyal to Africa” and saying “when people have been loyal to you, you never stab them in the back.”
While Europe, Asia and CONCACAF said over the weekend they had lost confidence in Infantino, CAF has kept its counsel. For a president fighting to hold on, Africa’s bloc of 54 votes looks like the lifeline he is counting on.
