AP

Sense of FIFA influence hangs over Africa’s football leader

Feb 4, 2022, 8:28 PM | Updated: Feb 5, 2022, 10:30 am

CAF president Patrice Motsepe speaks during a press conference at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yao...

CAF president Patrice Motsepe speaks during a press conference at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)


              FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, presents the FIFA Special Best Men's award to Cristiano Ronaldo during the Best FIFA Football Awards 2021 in Zurich, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. (Harold Cunningham/Pool Photo via AP)
            
              FILE - Issa Hayatou, right, speaks to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, at the opening of the general assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, March 16, 2017. Long-time African soccer leader Issa Hayatou won an appeal ruling Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, to overturn a one-year ban for alleged commercial wrongdoing imposed by FIFA where he was once interim president. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said it upheld Hayatou's appeal because “there was insufficient evidence” of misconduct in a Confederation of African Football marketing and media rights deal.  (AP Photo, File)
            
              CAF president Patrice Motsepe speaks during a press conference at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
            
              FILE - FIFA president Gianni Infantino speaks during the Confederation of African Football general assembly in Cairo, Egypt, July 18, 2019. Infantino has linked his plan for biennial World Cups to giving more hope to African people who currently risk their lives crossing the sea to Europe. Infantino's comments were in a speech to European lawmakers in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, file)
            
              CAF president Patrice Motsepe speaks during a media conference at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
            
              CAF president Patrice Motsepe speaks during media conference at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Throughout his election campaign and first year leading African football, Patrice Motsepe has struggled to shake off the perception of being under FIFA’s influence, particularly when it comes to the push by Gianni Infantino for biennial World Cups.

“We are not going to sink to the level of those who say that the people of Africa cannot decide for themselves and they need FIFA and (president) Gianni Infantino to tell us what is good for ourselves,” Motsepe said on Saturday. “We know what is in our interests.”

The Confederation of African Football president was attempting to again distance himself from the FIFA president. Next to Motsepe was Infantino, wearing a CAF face mask and fresh from attending a meeting of CAF’s 54 member associations on the eve of the African Cup of Nations final between Egypt and Senegal.

“My brother,” is how Infantino addressed Motsepe in a speech at a poolside dinner earlier in Cameroon in a video seen by The Associated Press.

A year ago, in the weeks before the South African mining magnate was elected in March, Infantino was flying across Africa and giving the impression of being a kingmaker.

Whatever Infantino discussed with African officials, Motsepe’s three rivals withdrew their candidacies in the weekend before what became an uncontested election to elevate the owner of Pretoria-based club Mamelodi Sundowns.

“When they asked me to be president of CAF,” Motsepe recalled on Friday during a roundtable with reporters, “I said, ‘Are you guys mad. I don’t even attend meetings of the PSL (Premier Soccer League) board of governors.'”

Motsepe didn’t respond directly to a question about who asked him to become president. He succeeded Ahmad Ahmad, who enjoyed Infantino’s warm backing until being cast aside following a FIFA investigation into financial misconduct while running the Cairo-based CAF. Since then, the only confederation where Infantino has been able to find regular loyal backing is Africa, especially during FIFA’s fraught attempt to gain backing for World Cups being staged every two years instead of four years.

“We can’t agree more,” Motsepe stressed on Saturday with Infantino standing next to him. “We are very excited that we have Gianni Infantino and a FIFA that supports us on this issue.”

It is an isolated view. None of the other five confederations have endorsed doubling the frequency of World Cups. In interviews with the AP over the last week, the UEFA and CONMEBOL presidents have reinforced their concerns about the damage Infantino’s plans would cause to the global game.

“There is obviously a sports political dimension,” Infantino said. “We are seeing how can we make global football benefit from … whether it’s a biennial World Cup or whether it’s another way of inclusive participation. This will be part of a third dimension.”

The suggestion of an alternative to the biennial plan was a more restrained pitch in the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé than the speech Infantino delivered to European politicians in Strasbourg last week that was denounced for its crass tone invoking tragedy when touting a sporting and financial enterprise.

Infantino linked the need for more World Cups with giving “hope to Africans so that they don’t need to cross the Mediterranean in order to find, maybe, a better life but more probably death in the sea.”

The only significant public backing for the FIFA president came from Africa’s football leader. Motsepe claimed “several commentators unfortunately seem to have misunderstood” comments filmed for the world to watch.

“I think there’s also a bit of mischief because those who don’t support the FIFA World Cup every two years, they will go after him,” Motsepe said on Friday.

A day earlier, though, concerns were raised that staging a men’s or women’s World Cup every year “would create immeasurable damage and put in danger sport in general.” That wasn’t a Eurocentric view but from an Algerian sports leader, Mustapha Berraf, who leads the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa.

Much as Berraf stands behind IOC President Thomas Bach’s stance, so does Motsepe alongside Infantino’s championing of the proposition.

“We take positions based on principle,” Motsepe said. “And let me say this to you — Gianni and I don’t agree on many things.”

Little disagreement is obvious, apart from perhaps the timing of the African Cup in the middle of the European season and the continent’s top tournament not being played every two years.

It’s little surprise Motsepe seems to often give cover for Infantino, especially when CAF’s administration has been run since last year by Véron Mosengo-Omba — a university friend of Infantino’s who followed him from UEFA to FIFA in 2016.

Before then, for the second half of 2019, CAF was being effectively run by Fatma Samoura who was parachuted into the confederation as general delegate for Africa while also serving as FIFA secretary general.

Infantino has been a driving force for a Super League being launched for African clubs — separate to the continent’s Champions League — at the same time as disputing evidence he was linked to the European Super League project to split from UEFA that was hastily abandoned amid acrimony last year.

“I’m here to make a contribution to significantly improve the quality of African football,” Motsepe said. “Nobody’s interested in watching the competition on TV when the quality is average at best.”

Motsepe, with a net worth estimated by Forbes to be $3 billion, will often point to his business experience as the grounding for his integrity.

“The African leadership is neither ignorant nor naïve not to recognize that for us to succeed and grow, we need partnerships,” he said, “and FIFA is our most important partner.”

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Associated Press

Ex-Packer Guion gets 1 year for domestic violence assault

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading no contest in a domestic violence assault at his home last fall. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Walsh also ordered Guion on Tuesday to serve three years’ probation and complete a domestic […]

1 year ago

Joe Jarzynka...

Associated Press

Durant eager for Suns debut vs. Hornets after knee injury

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Durant has been through quite a bit during his 15-year NBA career — but joining a new team midway through the season is a new one for the 13-time All-Star. The 34-year-old Durant doesn’t seem all that worried. Durant makes his highly anticipated Phoenix Suns debut on Wednesday night against […]

1 year ago

FILE - Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores stands on the sideline during the second half of an N...

Associated Press

Judge: NFL coach can press discrimination claims in court

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Coach Brian Flores can pursue some of his discrimination claims against the league and its teams in court rather than through arbitration, a judge ruled Wednesday. The written decision by Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan was issued months after lawyers for the league tried to get the lawsuit moved to […]

1 year ago

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock cools off in the first period during an NHL hockey game ...

Associated Press

Kane trade reinforces hard reality of Blackhawks rebuild

CHICAGO (AP) — After days of speculation, the harsh reality of the Chicago Blackhawks’ situation was reinforced by one move in a flurry of transactions ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Showtime is over, at least in Chicago, and a seemingly bright future is, well, way off in the distance. The reverberations of Chicago’s decision […]

1 year ago

FILE -  Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, wearing a protective face mas...

Associated Press

Disgraced ex-Haitian soccer president announces he’s back

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s former soccer federation president whose lifetime ban from sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month announced Wednesday that he is reclaiming his position. Yves Jean-Bart’s defiant announcement could lead to a standoff with FIFA, which already has appointed an emergency management committee to lead the Haitian Football Association […]

1 year ago

FILE - Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers walks off the field after an NFL football game against the ...

Associated Press

Rodgers says decision on future will come ‘soon enough’

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says he will make a decision on his future “soon enough” as the four-time MVP quarterback ponders whether to play next season and if his future remains with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, 39, discussed his future while speaking on an episode of the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that […]

1 year ago

Sense of FIFA influence hangs over Africa’s football leader