Former Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o has thrown his support behind beleaguered FIFA president Gianni Infantino, saying he “hasn’t done anything wrong” despite facing mounting pressure to step down over a controversial World Cup sell-off plan.
Infantino has come under intense scrutiny since the collapse of a proposal to secure private investment in FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup.
UEFA, which oversees European football, has threatened a boycott of FIFA competitions with several continental and national federations also withdrawing their support for Infantino.
However, Eto’o, president of the Cameroonian football federation, dismissed criticism of Infantino’s leadership, suggesting the backlash was driven largely by political manoeuvring ahead of FIFA’s presidential election next year.
“I don’t think that President Gianni Infantino has done anything wrong,” the former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker told CNN.
“I think the timing of all of that is because there’s an election coming out.”
Infantino’s plan, which would reportedly have distributed substantial funding to FIFA’s 211 member associations, faced strong opposition from several confederations and was ultimately abandoned.
The FIFA president remains under pressure, with the possibility of a no-confidence vote being triggered. UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF — which governs North and Central America and the Caribbean — have all voiced concerns over FIFA’s direction in recent weeks.
But the Confederation of African Football (CAF) earlier this month “unanimously reconfirmed its support” for Infantino, and Eto’o’s backing is aligned with that position.
“President Gianni Infantino has changed football,” said Eto’o, urging fellow African countries to support the Swiss official.
“He’s given opportunities to nations that didn’t have those opportunities to take part in the most beautiful tournament, the World Cup. He enabled smaller nations to get seats at these competitions.
“He has helped our continent. He’s helped our federations to develop much more quickly, and we need to acknowledge that. We need to accept and recognise what he’s done, and we should support him for everything he’s done up to now.”
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