Africa's football progress seen as key factor in future support for Infantino

KATOWICE, Poland: African football officials are prioritising development over governance disputes surrounding FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the continent's progress will guide future leadership decisions, said Benin Football Federation President Marcellin Bocove. Bocove was speaking ahead of the FIFA under-20 Women's World Cup, which runs from Saturday through September 27 in Poland. The tournament is the first global FIFA competition since the governance row triggered by Infantino's proposal to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors. The Swiss administrator abandoned the plan, which valued the commercial rights of the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments at $20 billion, in late July in the face of a fierce backlash from European governing body UEFA and other stakeholders in the game. Infantino has apologised for "errors" made during the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, but subsequently defended the concept as a vehicle to distribute more money to poorer national soccer federations. Infantino, who has announced he will seek a fourth term in March 2027, has since faced calls to resign but retains support from the African and South American confederations. "It is not up to me to say whether he (Infantino) is the right person or not, but we look at the track record of what's been done over the past 10 years or so," Bocove told Reuters on the sidelines of Benin's training session in Katowice on Friday. "What is important for us is that Africa progresses in the development of football, and that is more what we will be basing our position on going forward." Asked whether Benin would vote for Infantino in the 2027 election, Bocove replied: "It's too early to answer such a question. We don't know how things will unfold by then ..." Bocove said recent years had brought tangible progress to African football but argued more investment was needed. "There is investment...," he added. "We need to continue, keep going in the same direction, and so that calls for even more investment, and so the needs are there, we have to address them." Similar views were expressed by Gideon Fosu, a member of the Ghana Football Association's executive committee. "I think genuinely the passion for Infantino to just want to help develop football in Africa, for me, is something that I admire," Fosu said. "I think that the support he requires is what I am hoping that everybody will look beyond setting boundaries ... "So if there's that structure there, that intention to develop the women's game and football as a whole in Africa, I think that is something that everybody should support." Four African teams are competing at the under-20 Women's World Cup: Benin, Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania.