Zurich (GNP): Senior figures within African football have approached FIFA General Secretary Mattias Grafström to gauge his interest in standing against Gianni Infantino in next year’s presidential election, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
As many as fifteen African federations are reportedly prepared to withdraw their support from Infantino, even as the Confederation of African Football, known as CAF, has publicly maintained that its executive committee unanimously reconfirmed backing for the 56-year-old president.
The approach to Grafström follows a period of visible tension between the general secretary and Infantino. Grafström had initially distanced himself from Infantino’s FIFA Forward Enterprise plan, telling staff in an internal memo that “individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go,” a comment made just days after the proposal to sell twenty percent of the World Cup’s commercial rights was abandoned.
Within 24 hours, however, Grafström signed a letter expressing full support for Infantino and later informed employees that Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour, who had strongly criticized the FFE proposal, had been dismissed from his position.
Despite that reversal, it is understood that Grafström’s earlier opposition to the plan drew the attention of Infantino’s critics within African football, prompting two presidents of African federations to contact him separately by phone last week. Grafström is said to have been surprised by the outreach and remained noncommittal about his intentions.
One executive committee member described the thinking behind the approach, saying Grafström is seen as capable of uniting federations across multiple continents and noting his reputation as an open-minded figure who listens closely to member associations.
Grafström, appointed FIFA’s permanent general secretary in May 2024 after serving in an interim capacity, has worked closely with CAF and several African federations over the past two years, though whether he intends to challenge Infantino remains unclear.
CAF has long been considered a stronghold of support for Infantino, but discontent has reportedly grown in multiple countries following FIFA’s decision to hold the Africa Cup of Nations every four years instead of every two, a change many believe was imposed on the confederation rather than agreed to by it.
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That frustration was visible at CAF’s most recent executive committee meeting on August 7, where only four of the twenty-one members present, including CAF President Patrice Motsepe and Vice President Fouzi Lekjaa of Morocco, publicly declared their support for Infantino. According to one attendee, the remaining members stayed silent, choosing to wait and see how the political situation develops before stating a position.
With fifty-four member federations, Africa’s voting bloc could prove decisive in any bid to unseat Infantino, given that a challenger would need support from 106 of FIFA’s 211 member associations to win.
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation and a vocal opponent of Infantino aligned with UEFA and CONCACAF, is believed to retain meaningful support within Africa following his defeat to Infantino in the 2015 election. One source suggested that if Salman receives backing from Europe, he would likely also secure support from Asia and CONCACAF, along with a portion of African votes.
Any potential challenger, however, has reportedly been told they would need to match Infantino’s financial commitments to African football, referencing the FFE plan’s goal of distributing roughly twenty million dollars annually to each association.
According to the executive committee member, support would ultimately follow whichever candidate offers a stronger concrete plan for developing infrastructure and supporting lower-income federations, rather than personal loyalty alone.
