{
  "id": 3649302,
  "title": "Cannavaro, Cafu back Infantino despite FIFA crisis",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/cannavaro-cafu-back-infantino-despite-fifa-crisis",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-27T02:34:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/sports/football/2026/08/1519648/cannavaro-cafu-back-infantino-despite-fifa-crisis"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Fabio Cannavaro and Cafu, both World Cup winners, have endorsed FIFA President Gianni Infantino despite his aborted proposal to allow private investment in the World Cup. Their support was expressed via social media following another group of former players, led by Mikael Silvestre, who called for changes in FIFA's leadership. Infantino's scrapped plan had created a crisis within the sport, with many influential figures urging him to resign. Over the past ten years, football has evolved, and players have once again assumed a prominent role, according to Cannavaro, who was part of Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning team. He praised Infantino's efforts in promoting player representation in football, which had been lacking in the past. Similar sentiments were shared by other former players including Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, Ivan Cordoba, and Jared Borgetti. Despite opposition calls for his resignation, Infantino remains committed to participating in FIFA's next presidential election in March 2027.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}