Cameroon’s Eto’o says African federations should support Infantino

Cameroon's football chief, Samuel Eto'o, praised Fifa president Gianni Infantino for his role in boosting the development of African football associations. Speaking to French newspaper L'Equipe, Eto'o credited Infantino for rapidly advancing the continent's federations and providing more nations the chance to compete in the World Cup.

Eto'o highlighted Infantino's influence, stating that "he has helped our continent. He has helped our federations develop much more quickly, and we have to recognize that." The former Cameroon striker argued that the African federation should rally behind Infantino for his accomplishments thus far.

This stance stands in contrast to UEFA's more contentious relationship with Infantino. UEFA has taken a more adversarial approach, contributing to the widening gap in perspectives between African and European football leaders.

Infantino has announced his intention to seek re-election at the upcoming Fifa Congress on March 18, 2027. The African continent secured nine direct spots in the expanded 48-team World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States this summer, up from five in the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

UEFA had previously opposed a proposal that would have transferred commercial rights for the men's and women's World Cups and the Club World Cup to a new subsidiary, Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), with outside investors. Despite Fifa's withdrawal of the plan, UEFA continues to challenge its management and has filed a potential criminal complaint in a Swiss court against Infantino and other Fifa officials. UEFA also aims to propose an alternative distribution of resources through the existing Fifa Forward programme.

Eto'o acknowledged that African federations cannot be expected to share the same viewpoint as more wealthy football nations, as many African associations rely heavily on government funding. He expressed that the lack of resources makes it difficult for African countries to compete with the bigger football powers, as seen in the absence of Cameroonian talents like Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni.

Eto'o emphasized that African countries would have likely produced top players if they had annual budgets of US$20 million or US$40 million, similar to France. He reiterated that UEFA is an important confederation for Fifa but should not be considered the only or most crucial confederation.