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African football president Patrice Motsepe has reiterated his full support for beleaguered FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s upcoming re-election bid.
Speaking near the end of a lengthy address at a Confederation of African Football (CAF) strategy meeting in Cape Verde, Motsepe announced: “We took a resolution, unanimous that we support him and we will stand by him for the next elections.” He then urged delegates from the 54 national federations “to stand up and give Gianni a round of applause.”
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After a brief pause as attendees slowly rose, Infantino, who had delivered an earlier speech, received a sustained standing ovation.
Shifting focus to development, Motsepe declared, “One of the nations from Africa will win the World Cup. But we’ve got to spend more investment in our academies, in our youth.”
He emphasized that CAF’s partnership with Infantino is crucial, adding, “We can’t just keep talking very nicely, having these beautiful plans. We’ve got to invest.”
Infantino has faced mounting criticism from various FIFA member associations, particularly across Europe, Asia, and North America, following his controversial, aborted plan to create a commercial subsidiary to run major FIFA events like the World Cup and Club World Cup. The next FIFA election is scheduled for March 18, 2027, in Rabat.
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Defending both Infantino’s integrity and the governance of African football, Motsepe challenged critics head-on: “If anybody has any allegation or any accusation against Gianni Infantino or me or any other president, go to the FIFA ethics committee.”
He concluded by addressing broader perceptions of African football governance: “There are these suggestions that we don’t respect government, that we are not as committed to governance, to transparency, to ethics. For us, governance and ethics and transparency and due process is a matter of life and death. Because our people are looking at us and they’re saying to us in football, how do you conduct, how do you behave?”
