Former CAF Chief Operating Officer Abiola Ijasanmi says the Confederation of African Football still appears to support FIFA President Gianni Infantino, despite the controversy surrounding the now-abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal.
Ijasanmi noted that CAF’s 54 member associations had unanimously backed Infantino’s re-election before the FFE proposal collapsed, adding that there has been no subsequent indication that the confederation has formally changed its position.
According to her, individual African football associations have expressed their views on the proposal, but CAF itself has yet to issue a fresh collective position distancing the confederation from Infantino.
“The 54 CAF member associations unanimously endorsed Gianni Infantino for re-election before the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal collapsed. Since then, CAF has not publicly changed that position,” Ijasanmi said.
She pointed out that countries including Egypt and Morocco have expressed support for Infantino individually, but stressed that such positions should not necessarily be interpreted as a new collective position from CAF.
The debate follows FIFA’s controversial proposal for the creation of the FIFA Forward Enterprise, a commercial subsidiary that was intended to generate additional revenue for investment in football development. The proposal subsequently faced resistance and was abandoned.
Ijasanmi said the developments have raised important questions about the relationship between FIFA and its confederations, particularly concerning governance, commercial strategy and the distribution of development resources.
The former CAF executive has previously advocated stronger governance and transparency within African football, including greater institutional support for CAF’s 54 member associations.
Despite the controversy surrounding the FFE proposal, Ijasanmi believes there is currently no clear evidence that CAF has withdrawn its backing for Infantino, leaving the FIFA president with the continued support of the continent’s football leadership unless the confederation formally states otherwise.
