African Football Leaders Rally Behind Infantino Amid FIFA Leadership Pressure

CAPE TOWN, Aug 4 (Reuters) — Leading African football administrators have expressed support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino as he seeks backing from the continent’s 54 member associations in his bid to retain his position.

Five influential football leaders from Africa have issued statements supporting Infantino while also welcoming his decision to abandon a controversial proposal to sell a stake in future World Cup revenues.

Their messages came ahead of a Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee meeting on Thursday, where members are expected to discuss the abandoned plan to raise $4.2 billion through a new commercial rights entity.

While Asia, Europe and CONCACAF, which governs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, said over the weekend that they had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership, CAF has remained cautious, giving the FIFA president hope that he can rely on the continent’s large membership as he prepares for next March’s FIFA presidential election.

CAF issued a statement last Wednesday saying it would review Infantino’s FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative, but he withdrew the project on Friday following strong opposition. The proposal remains on the agenda for the CAF meeting, although there is no certainty that Africa’s football governing body will take a position on Infantino’s future.

However, several senior CAF officials have shown support for Infantino, including 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.

Support has also come from Veron Mosengo-Omba, the recently elected president of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s football federation and former CAF secretary-general, who studied at university in Switzerland with Infantino.

The statements from the African officials welcomed Infantino’s decision to drop the project before praising his leadership and expressing support for him.

African countries played a key role in Infantino’s election victory in 2016, following his promises to more than double development funding provided by FIFA to its member associations.

The financial support has helped maintain his popularity among African football bodies, many of which face financial challenges and now rely heavily on FIFA funding to operate.

“Our problem is how to obtain money. Right now, we have no sponsors. So how do we compete? The richest nations can train players, have infrastructure and equipment, and it’s no coincidence that they then achieve results. Most European countries don’t have these problems,” said Said Ali Athouman, president of the Comoros Football Federation.

“Our government is not able to make sure that they have medical supplies in hospitals and at the same time to look at football. Malawi needs money. Malawi needs stadiums,” said Fleetwood Haiya, president of the Football Association of Malawi.

FIFA’s baseline funding provides each of its 211 member associations with $8 million over a four-year cycle, while CAF also provides annual grants to its members.

Gifting Grants

Providing financial grants to member associations was first introduced as an idea by Infantino’s predecessor, Sepp Blatter, during his 1998 election campaign against Lennart Johansson. Blatter won with support from many African countries, despite CAF officially backing Johansson, who was then UEFA president.

Infantino continued the approach after taking office, renaming the initiative from the Goal Project to FIFA Forward and significantly increasing the funding.

CAF President Patrice Motsepe had strongly praised Infantino shortly before the controversy over the proposed World Cup revenue deal emerged.

“I personally support Gianni Infantino,” Motsepe said. “He’s not just a good friend. He’s a loyal friend. He’s loyal to Africa. I come from a background where when people have been loyal to you, you never stab them in the back.”