Eto’o calls on African football federations to support FIFA chief Infantino

What the report says

Samuel Eto’o, president of the Cameroon Football Federation, has urged African football federations to back FIFA president Gianni Infantino, saying Infantino has helped accelerate development across the continent and opened more World Cup opportunities for African teams. The comments, reported by Al Jazeera from a Reuters interview with L’Equipe, come as European football leaders remain increasingly critical of the FIFA chief.

Eto’o argued that African federations operate under much tighter budgets than wealthier associations and therefore cannot be expected to judge FIFA policy in the same way. He said some federations work with budgets of only around 150,000 euros, making it difficult to compete with richer countries or invest at the same level in development, facilities and talent pathways.

He also linked limited resources to the loss of potential African-born talent to Europe. In the interview, he suggested that larger annual budgets could have helped Cameroon retain players with family ties to the country, naming France internationals Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni as examples.

The article notes that Africa had nine direct places at the expanded 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer, up from five at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Infantino has said he will seek re-election at the FIFA Congress in 2027.