FIFA 2027: CAF support for Infantino far from being unanimous
Contrary to the CAF communiqué mentioning unanimous support from all 54 federations for the re-election of Gianni Infantino as FIFA president in 2027, several federations and even a sub-confederation have not approved or signed any letter of support to that effect.
Philemon MBALE · Author profile ·
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After having decided without asking the General Assembly to change the periodicity of the Africa Cup of Nations, the CAF staff continues to announce decisions without really consulting all its member federations.
On 29 April, the Confederation of African Football published on its website a brief entitled: "CAF member associations unanimously support the re-election of Gianni Infantino as president of FIFA." However, this statement, based on a meeting held the same day, is not true.
COSAFA does not support Infantino
Illustrated by a photo between Patrice Motsepe and Gianni Infantino, the laconic article gives the impression of unity. In reality, it is mainly about the relationship between the president of CAF and the one from FIFA who had done everything to get him elected at the head of CAF without any opponent in 2021.
Endowed with incredible influence within the CAF staff, even making several people travel from Zurich to Cairo, FIFA dictates its intentions. (change of periodicity of the AFCON, suppression of the CHAN for the League of Nations, the ephemeral attempt of African Super League led by Italians...).
In this context, what could be more normal than the CAF providing support to Infantino? Problem, the requested letters of support have not been signed by all the federations, notably COSAFA, the Council of Football Associations in Southern Africa.
Motsepe no longer has full control
Several federation presidents were angered by the CAF communiqué, which once again showed the split within the organization led by Motsepe. If some are already plotting a putsch in the hope of recovering the position, notably Suleiman Waberi from Djibouti – which has come to FIFA’s attention – one must qualify the analysis: Infantino has excellent relations with many presidents in Africa who, however, no longer particularly want to be dictated to by the CAF of Motsepe, which is used to announcing things that are sometimes wrong, from financial statements to "unanimous" support. which never existed.