PARIS.- The former Cameroonian international, Samuel Eto’opublicly gave his support to the president of the FIFA, Gianni Infantino, amid growing pressure for the Italian-Swiss leader to resign over his controversial plan to allow private investment in competitions.
Infantino has come under intense scrutiny since the failure of a proposal to open the door to private investment in FIFA tournaments, including the World.
The UEFA, which oversees European football, threatened to boycott FIFA competitions and several continental and national federations also withdrew their support for Infantino.
However, Eto’o, president of the Cameroonian Football Federationdismissed criticism of Infantino’s leadership and suggested that the backlash against him is largely due to political maneuvering ahead of elections for the FIFA presidency next year.
“I don’t think President Gianni Infantino has done anything wrong,” the former Italy striker told CNN. FC Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea. “I think the timing of all of that is because there’s an election coming up.”
Infantino’s plan, which reportedly would have distributed considerable funding among FIFA’s 211 member associations, faced strong opposition from several confederations and was ultimately abandoned.
The FIFA president remains under pressure, with the possibility of a motion of no confidence being activated. The UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and the CONCACAF —that governs North America, Central America and the Caribbean— have expressed concern about the direction of FIFA in recent weeks.
“Football has changed”
But the African Football Confederation (CAF) earlier this month expressed “unanimous support” for Infantino, and Eto’o’s support is in line with that position.
“President Gianni Infantino has changed football,” said Eto’o, urging other African countries to support the Italian-Swiss leader.
“It has given opportunities to nations that did not have them to participate in the most beautiful tournament, the World Cup. It has allowed smaller nations to have places in these competitions,” he explained.
“He has helped our continent. He has helped our federations develop much faster and we have to recognize that. We have to accept and recognize what he has done, and we should support him for everything he has done so far.”
