CAF officials watch a match from the stands. African federations are weighing whether to keep backing Gianni Infantino as FIFA president. Photo: Happiraphael/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Does Africa still back Infantino as Fifa president?
The African confederation has yet to take an official stance, but where do the key African footballing nations stand on the Infantino saga?
Background
African votes decide FIFA elections. The Confederation of African Football has the largest single bloc of member associations after Europe, and its members have generally backed the incumbent leadership in recent cycles, in part because development funding has been directed towards associations with the least commercial income. That is also why a confederation is slow to take an official position: the calculation is about what each member association stands to receive, and it is made association by association rather than continent-wide.
Why it matters here
Kenya is one of those associations. The Football Kenya Federation relies on FIFA and CAF programmes for referee training, youth competition and facilities, and the country has direct experience of what happens when the relationship sours, after the 2022 suspension that followed government intervention in the federation. How Kenya lines up in a governance fight has consequences that eventually reach a pitch in Kibra.
What to watch next
Whether the confederation adopts a formal position, how individual associations declare themselves, and whether development funding schedules change.
This story was put together by K N N from material first published by BBC News.
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
The African confederation has yet to take an official stance, but where do the key African footballing nations stand on the Infantino saga?
Background
African votes decide FIFA elections. The Confederation of African Football has the largest single bloc of member associations after Europe, and its members have generally backed the incumbent leadership in recent cycles, in part because development funding has been directed towards associations with the least commercial income. That is also why a confederation is slow to take an official position: the calculation is about what each member association stands to receive, and it is made association by association rather than continent-wide.
Why it matters here
Kenya is one of those associations. The Football Kenya Federation relies on FIFA and CAF programmes for referee training, youth competition and facilities, and the country has direct experience of what happens when the relationship sours, after the 2022 suspension that followed government intervention in the federation. How Kenya lines up in a governance fight has consequences that eventually reach a pitch in Kibra.
What to watch next
Whether the confederation adopts a formal position, how individual associations declare themselves, and whether development funding schedules change.
