By Mark Gleeson
CAPE TOWN, Sept 18 (Reuters) – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been invited by the Confederation of African Football to attend a two-day Strategy Conference in Cape Verde next month.
A letter sent from CAF to member associations this week, seen by Reuters and verified by member associations, invited the 54 presidents to the meeting on October 7 and 8 after CAF president Patrice Motsepe had previously mooted the idea several times.
The South African mining billionaire is a close ally of Infantino, who is facing a potential challenge to his leadership ahead of next year’s FIFA presidential election.
CAF’s executive committee last month expressed its support for Infantino, and a number of individual African football associations have also said they are backing him as he faces the biggest challenge to his presidency following the collapse of his proposal to sell a stake of up to 20% in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors.
The plan prompted fierce opposition from UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF and led to calls for change at the top of FIFA. But Africa expressed no objection to the plan and has since said it was standing by Infantino.
While past FIFA votes have often seen a split in the African vote, the endorsement from CAF has come in contrast to the fierce criticism of Infantino’s actions from other parts of the footballing world.
Africa’s 54 votes are a significant number of the 211 member associations who will vote if Infantino faces a challenger at the election in Rabat in March.
The 56-year-old Swiss has confirmed he is standing for re-election but no potential opponent has yet emerged despite UEFA saying it was searching for a credible challenger.
CAF said the conference agenda would be sent to member associations in due course.
On October 9, there will also be a review of the 2026 World Cup to which the national team coach of every African association has been invited, led by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who is now FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development.
Reviews of tactical trends, refereeing and logistical matters and other issues from the playing field have been hosted by FIFA on every continent after every World Cup since the 2010 finals in South Africa.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)
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