Cameroonian football maestro and president of FECAFOOT, Samuel Eto’o, has stated that FIFA President Gianni Infantino will continue to enjoy his support as the Swiss faces growing opposition, especially from the football governing bodies of Europe and North America.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN, the football legend said Gianni Infantino “will continue to enjoy my support and the support of my federation,” adding that the FIFA Forward Enterprise project, which proposed opening up the World Cup to private investors, was going to benefit Africa.
The project was utterly rejected by the European football governing body UEFA and that of North America, CONCACAF, which accused Infantino of prioritizing his interests over those of football.
In a statement on August 1, UEFA criticised secret schemes cooked up by faceless individuals for dubious benefit, adding that FIFA’s current leadership had lost its confidence.
Stiff opposition to the project caused FIFA to withdraw it before it could even be tabled to the assembly for a vote.
Eto’o disagreed with UEFA and CONCACAF that Gianni Infantino had breached FIFA ethics by proposing to sell a stake in the World Cup. He insisted the proposal should have been presented for a vote, not hushed down.
“I don’t think at all President Infantino wanted to put himself forward. He proposed. The 211 FIFA members were supposed to sit down, debate the issue and let the majority win. But I am convinced that the voices that were raised are not the voices of the majority,” he said.
Eto’o believes the backlash against Infantino is because the world’s top football confederations don’t want him to stand again in the next election, which will take place during the FIFA Congress in Morocco in March 2027.
“I don’t think that President Gianni Infantino was wrong. I think all these things are happening because of the timing. There’s an election coming up where Gianna Infantino is standing,” the former Barcelona forward said.
Eto’o said Presidents of Africa’s 54 football federations need to think about the continent’s interests on the global stage because Africa is “always left behind”
ETO’O BACKS INFANTINO
