CAF president and FIFA vice-president Patrice Motsepe said any challenges to Gianni Infantino should follow FIFA’s formal election process in March 2027, allowing the 211 member associations to decide rather than forcing an early resignation.
The South African billionaire emphasized due process and fair treatment while noting Infantino still enjoys African support for his loyalty to the continent, without offering a new full endorsement or direct criticism.
UEFA (led by Aleksander Čeferin), together with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and CONCACAF, are the main groups pushing for Infantino to step down early over his abandoned World Cup commercial rights plan.
“If anybody has got any problem against anybody, whether it’s Gianni, whether it is anybody else, follow the process, follow the FIFA process, simple as that. If you want to take him out, go for elections; let the 211 member associations decide. Do that, and the vote will express whether they’ve got confidence in him or not,” Motsepe told Sky Sports News.
“You’ve got to be very careful. There are elections taking place next year. Shouldn’t we allow that process to continue? And let the 211 members decide. I’ve heard so many stories about various issues and am careful to pass judgement on anything. Everybody has a right to be heard. Let’s have a hearing, and a proper forum, a proceeding, a court, or whatever it is, or a tribunal … everybody is entitled to fair judgement, to fair treatment.
“There’s a lot that’s problematic and negative that they have to fix. But he has apologised and said maybe there’s a different way these things should have been done, but we also take advice. There are many times when I want the candidate to win and doesn’t win. Whoever wins, I’ve got to support him,” he added.
“I get too many telephone calls from too many member associations worldwide. And I like to focus on the unity, the cooperation. How do we continue to develop and grow football in the midst of the challenges we have? Deal with those challenges. We will resolve them, and we’ll move on. He’s been loyal to African football. He enjoys the support of Africa.”
