Why CAF’s Backing May Not Be Enough To Secure Infantino’s Re-Election

CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Confederation of African Football President Patrice Motsepe

How FIFA elections work and why Africa’s vote is key for Gianni infantino. Infantino counts on African votes, but CAF endorsements have little weight.

“He is a president who is doing what is necessary to support ‌Africa...”

African football federations have mostly stayed quiet during the controversy over FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s future, even as he counts on their backing to stay in power.

CAF did put out a statement supporting him, which puts it at odds with three other confederations demanding that Infantino explain his scrapped plan to split off World Cup commercial rights. But that CAF backing doesn’t mean African nations will automatically vote the same way.

The Swiss-Italian Infantino remains popular with African associations because he has greatly boosted their FIFA funding during his 10 years in charge. Still, that doesn’t mean he can count on all 54 CAF members to vote for him when the FIFA Congress in Morocco holds the election on March 17th.

Africa carries a big share of the vote. But CAF endorsements in the past haven’t carried much weight, with member nations often ignoring them.

That’s happened before. In 1998 CAF aligned with UEFA to back European president Lennart Johansson for FIFA president. Yet African members largely voted the other way, putting his opponent Sepp Blatter in office.

History of CAF Endorsements Being Ignored

Four years after that, CAF president Issa Hayatou ran against Blatter. Blatter still won a second term by a landslide, with most African nations voting for him instead of their own confederation leader.

Infantino came to power in 2016 even though CAF had backed his opponent, Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa. In the end, it was African countries that helped push Infantino over the finish line in the second round of voting.

CAF members also went their own way over the 2026 World Cup host vote, despite the confederation officially backing Morocco’s bid.

At the 2018 FIFA Congress in Moscow, eleven African nations voted for the joint North American bid from Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The move was largely linked to the dispute over Western Sahara, Africa’s longest unresolved territorial issue since Spain ended colonial rule there in 1975.

Morocco claims the territory as its own, while the Polisario Front is pushing for an independent Sahrawi Republic. Several African countries recognize the Sahrawi Republic.

Shifting Support

Infantino appears to have solid African backing for now, but that could shift if the backlash against him over the last two weeks grows. That’s according to several African association leaders reporters spoke to in recent days.

Back in April at the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, all African associations signed letters backing Infantino’s bid for re-election. That was before news broke about his plan to sell a stake in future World Cups.

That proposal triggered fierce backlash from UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation, and CONCACAF, which oversees football in the Caribbean, North America, and Central America.

Several African federation presidents said they were surprised by how strongly people reacted against Infantino. But for now they’re staying quiet publicly, waiting to see if someone steps up to challenge him in next March’s election.

Public Backing Grows

Despite the criticism, Infantino picked up official support last week. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, and Niger all released statements backing him, and a few other countries have also voiced their support.

“I see no reason ‌not to support him,” said Mathurin de Chacus, president of the Benin federation and a member of the CAF executive committee. Alexandre Muyenge from Burundi added, “He is a president who is doing what is necessary to support ‌Africa, particularly the less wealthy countries. His record is good, so it is logical to support him.”

The CAF Executive Committee (“EXCO”) unanimously endorses the “Joint Update” by the FIFA President and Secretary General on the FIFA Forward Enterprise and will continue to focus on making African Football amongst the best in the world and adhering to governance and transparency…

— CAF Media (@CAF_Media) August 6, 2026

FIFA runs elections every four years. Infantino ran unopposed in both 2019 and 2023. If anyone wants to challenge him next year, they have to submit their candidacy by November 18.

According to FIFA’s statutes, a candidate needs a simple majority of 106 votes to win if there are only two people running.

FIFA has 211 member associations in total, and each one gets one vote.

The six continental confederations don’t get a vote in the FIFA presidential election. But each confederation president automatically gets a spot on the powerful FIFA Council, and holds the title of vice president.