FIFA president has big plans for Africa
Gianni Infantino
R
evolutionary new plans
are being proposed for
the future of African
football as FIFA
president Gianni
Infantino suggests a
dramatic overhaul to
invigorate the continent’s prospects, with
the beleaguered Confederation of African
Football scurrying to keep up.
It includes a change to the frequency
of the Africa Cup of Nations finals, which
has already had its immediate dates
altered; the creation of an African “Super
League”; professionalisation of referees;
and much more competition at all levels
for men and women.
These ideas come after a six-month
stint in charge at CAF headquarters in
Cairo for FIFA general-secretary Fatma
Samoura. She was there with the
purpose of cleaning house, although
success has yet to be seen and she
departed with CAF’s marketing and TV
deal with long-time French partners
Lagardere Sports having been unilaterally
cancelled, setting up a potentially costly
court showdown.
Samoura was parachuted in after CAF
president Ahmad had been reported to
FIFA’s ethics committee. Yet despite all
the damning evidence he remains in
power, allowing Infantino to manoeuvre
his plans through an acquiescent CAF
executive committee.
Infantino, as was the case with
predecessor Sepp Blatter, commands
loyalty from Africa’s football associations
because he holds the real purse strings
and, with promises of vastly increased
benefits, they will be more than happyto agree to his proposals.
The major one is the Cup of Nations,
which Infantino claims would make better
commercial sense being played every
four years. He believes less frequency
means more prestige and will attract
better sponsors, although this is a hunch
and not yet a reality.
The Cup of Nations is held every two
years because it is CAF’s only real source
of revenue. Although that is less so these
days – as FIFA sends Cairo plenty of cash- it has certainly been the case over the
last three decades.
It also used to be argued by Issa
Hayatou, CAF’s president for almost
30 years, that it created much-needed
infrastructure as host nations were
forced into building new or renovating
neglected stadia by the prestige of
staging the tournament.
“But I don’t see any proliferation of
infrastructure and, in terms of revenues,
it is miles away from any decent
competition,” argues Infantino.
“Maybe there is a good reason other
confederations play their competitions
every four years. For one thing, exclusivity
brings value.”
Infantino had already forced a change
in the timing of the hosting of the 2021
Cup of Nations, although this is because
of his expanded Club World Cup in June
and July next year.
That was when the next Cup ofNations was supposed to be staged in
Cameroon, but that has now been
brought forward and will run from
January 9 to February 6, 2021.
That old chestnut about the weather
was rolled out again to try give a different
reason for the change but it remains a
nonsense argument. If football in Africa
is supposedly at such variance to the
rain, how do the various domestic
competitions manage to fulfill their
fixtures year after year?
In March CAF will get an idea as
to whether Cameroon will be able to
manage when the country hosts the
African Nations Championship, thecompetition for teams made up of home-
based players only.
CHAN, as it is better known, will likely
go in Infantino’s new plan. It is a B-class
tournament that receives undeserved A
international status.
“I hope CAF has realised that the time
has come to change everything,” says the
FIFA president. “That’s why I proposed
the creation of a pan-African super
league of 20 to 24 clubs which could
generate at least $200million per year.
Then Africa you can start retaining
players and showing the world the quality
of its competition.”
Infantino’s point is that the AfricanHeadliners
Rewards...Ahmad
(above right) and
Fatma Samoura hand
out medals at last
year’s WAFU Cup
of Nations“Competitions in Africa are maybe 30 or 40 or 50
times less successful than in Europe”