October 9 – African football supremo Patrice Motsepe has confirmed the continent will back FIFA president Gianni Infantino for re-election, saying good governance is “a matter of life and death”.
Next year, FIFA will hold a presidential election at the world federation’s annual congress in Rabat, Morocco, and despite a series of major controversies including the FIFA Forward Enterprise, the FIFA Peace Prize and the Balogun saga during the World Cup, Motsepe, the South African billionaire, CAF president and longtime ally of Infantino, has reaffirmed his support for the FIFA president.
“When I was asked a few months ago, ‘why does Africa support Gianni Infantino?’, we took a resolution, unanimously, that we support him and will stand by him for the next election. I want you all to stand up and applaud Gianni,” Motsepe said.
Delegates at the CAF strategy conference in Cape Verde rose in compliance and applauded Infantino, who applauded, for 24 seconds.
Motsepe explained: “There are these suggestions that we are not as committed to governance, to transparency, to ethics. For us, governance and ethics, transparency and due process is a matter of life and death.
“Everyone has the right to be heard. If anyone has allegations against Gianni Infantino, me or any other president, go to FIFA ethics. We are all responsible,” Motsepe said.
The president of FIFA was present in Cape Verde. He said: “It is the responsibility of FIFA, CAF and your associations to create opportunities and find resources, so that those opportunities become a reality. And it is our responsibility to create opportunities and find the resources for those opportunities.
“Now, of course, when you travel, sometimes concerns arise, and when they arise, we have to address them. As for Fifa, we always address them in the spirit of what Mario Semedo said: the spirit of dialogue, with open arms, open hearts, open minds, because we can always be better and do better.”
Cape Verde was the last stop on the campaign for Infantino, who has been criss-crossing the world in recent weeks on a private jet provided by Qatar. In a dizzying fashion, he visited the Caribbean before flying to Latvia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and the Czech Republic to drum up support.
Azerbaijan, Elkhan Mammadov’s home country, has pledged its support to Infantino, breaking European unity. It is also understood that Latvia will support the FIFA president.
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