Gianni Infantino Secures African Support for FIFA Leadership

Backing from CONCACAF

The support from Africa comes at a phase in which the question of Infantino's future at the FIFA helm has flared up again. Representatives of the African continental confederation CAF had publicly positioned themselves behind the president in recent weeks. With this positioning, Infantino has a stable voting weight from several confederations, giving him room to maneuver in upcoming votes and decisions at the world body.

African Allies

Within FIFA, there had also been recent speculation about possible counter-candidates. To date, however, no federation has officially named an alternative contender. The confederations UEFA, CONMEBOL, and OFC pursue their own interests in the personnel debate, which would make united opposition against Infantino difficult. A broad alliance against the incumbent currently appears unlikely.

Observers assess the recent signals from Mexico and Africa as an attempt to create facts early for the next election period. Infantino first rose to the top of FIFA in 2016 and has since been repeatedly confirmed in office. A renewed candidacy is considered likely, but the incumbent has not yet formally declared it.

Economic Arguments

Infantino is also receiving support from the business world. In recent years, the world body had closed new partnerships and significantly increased revenues. This development is cited by friendly federations as an argument for a continuation of the previous course.

Critics, on the other hand, accuse the FIFA president of orienting himself too strongly toward political actors and of not advancing reforms far enough following the scandals of the past. These voices remain present within the European associations and in parts of the public, but have so far been unable to unite behind a common alternative.

Outlook on the FIFA Congress

In Zurich, FIFA is meanwhile preparing the regular congress, at which the future direction of the federation is also to be discussed. The personnel debate is likely to be one of the defining issues. Infantino himself has announced that he will comment on his future in due course.

With the statement from Mexico and the signals from Africa, the balance-of-power debate is initially shifting in favor of the incumbent. Whether this will result in a lasting power block will become clear in the coming weeks, in which further confederations want to take a position.