"I will vote for Gianni." Speaking on September 10 on France 24's En tête-à-tête, Cameroon Football Federation president Samuel Eto'o officially confirmed his support for Gianni Infantino's re-election as FIFA president, a year before the vote set for the 77th Congress in Rabat in March 2027.
The former international didn't stop at announcing his own vote: he said he wants to convince his counterparts across the 54 African federations to rally behind the same candidate, building on the collective support CAF had already voiced in late April. "The one who has brought the most to Africa is president Gianni Infantino," he said, weeks after FIFA scrapped its "FIFA Forward Enterprise" commercial subsidiary project, which had sparked pushback from parts of the European, Asian and North American confederations.
The interview also gave Samuel Eto'o a chance to defuse reports of tension between his federation and the sports ministry over unpaid wages. "I haven't personally seen any tension, but for once, we've worked well, with the calm a football team needs — and the result speaks for itself," he said, nodding to the Indomitable Lionesses' continental title at the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, which he also praised.
The timing is nonetheless worth reading against Eto'o's own position: re-elected as Fecafoot president on November 29, 2025 for a new four-year term running to 2029, with 85 of 87 delegate votes, his legitimacy isn't entirely secure — the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled admissible, on May 5, 2026, an appeal by the Cameroonian Football Referees Association challenging the vote's regularity. His early alignment with Infantino follows the same bet CAF already made: declared loyalty well ahead of the March 2027 vote, with no guarantee the expected political payoff materializes once the ballot is over.
The interview also touched on the CAF presidency succession. Patrice Motsepe announced on July 23 in Johannesburg that he won't seek a third term when his mandate ends in 2029: "Nobody is going to persuade me to serve more than two terms at CAF. It's not going to happen." Asked about a possible bid of his own, Samuel Eto'o deflected: "I'm very happy at the Cameroonian federation," he replied, citing the many challenges still ahead before saying he wants to "keep working so the wins keep coming" — not closing the door, but not committing either, three years before the deadline.
