On 29 April 2026 in Vancouver, on the eve of the 76th FIFA Congress, the 54 member federations of the Confederation of African Football, gathered under president Patrice Motsepe, unanimously announced their support for Gianni Infantino's re-election as FIFA president for the 2027-2031 term. The actual vote won't take place until the 77th Congress, in Rabat, on 18 March 2027 — CAF locked in its position nearly a year ahead of the deadline.
The arithmetic is significant. With Asia, which did the same on its own side (47 votes), Africa already locks in 101 votes out of FIFA's 211 member federations — within a few dozen of an outright majority. In an organisation where every country, big or small, holds a single vote, the African bloc — and it alone — could have set its own terms.
Yet Infantino is going through the most contested stretch of his tenure since 2016. Several European federations — Germany, Norway, Sweden — have publicly said they won't back him, citing governance concerns: in late July 2026, under threat of a UEFA boycott, Infantino was forced to abandon "FIFA Forward Enterprise," a proposed $20 billion commercial subsidiary that would have sold up to 20% of future World Cups' equity to private investors led by American businessman Joshua Kushner; on top of that came the widely criticised award of FIFA's first "Peace Prize" to Donald Trump at the 2026 World Cup draw in December.
Faced with these red flags, CAF attached no public conditions. Asked about the decision in July, Patrice Motsepe reached for personal loyalty rather than negotiating leverage: "He's not just a good friend. He's a loyal friend. He's loyal to Africa. I come from a background where when people have been loyal to you, you never stab them in the back." A sincere loyalty — but loyalty isn't a bargaining strategy: it's a gift, and a gift handed over a year in advance is worth nothing on the day there's something to ask for in return.
To be fair, Infantino has a case to make. By FIFA's own figures, the FIFA Forward programme has poured $1.08 billion into Africa's 54 federations since 2016, and the continent will field a record number of teams — nine, possibly ten — at the 2026 World Cup, up from five in previous editions. FIFA is even promising, for the 2027-2030 cycle, a $20 million development programme per member federation — appealing, but still a campaign pledge, not a signed commitment.
That's exactly what makes CAF's timing questionable: locking in its position before that programme was ever put in writing, rather than making its 54 votes conditional on its actual delivery. The bill will come due after March 2027 — when a president re-elected without serious opposition will have no reason left to negotiate with anyone who already backed him for nothing.
