Patrice Motsepe Says Only an Election Should Decide Infantino's FIFA Future
Patrice Motsepe drew a line on Thursday. The CAF president and FIFA vice president told Sky News that Gianni Infantino's future at world football's governing body should be decided by an election, not by pressure campaigns, after Ireland became the latest federation to pull its support for the embattled FIFA boss.
Infantino is under fire over an aborted plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, a scheme that has cost him backing across Europe. UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC issued a joint letter this week accusing him of placing himself "above the collective that entrusted him with authority," according to Al Jazeera. The English FA and Welsh FA had already withdrawn support, and the Football Association of Ireland followed on Thursday, citing "significant concerns regarding governance, transparency and the lack of meaningful consultation."
Motsepe isn't having it. "If you want to take him out, go for elections, let the 211 member associations decide," he said. "Do that and the vote will express whether they've got confidence in him or not."
CAF had already backed Infantino outright. Motsepe argued there was no rule breach in the World Cup sell-off talks, since any proposal would still have needed member approval, and pointed to Infantino's apology as a sign the FIFA president is willing to course-correct. "There's a lot that's problematic and negative that they have to fix," Motsepe said, "but he has apologised and said maybe there's a different way these things should have been done."
The CAF chief was in Salzburg on Wednesday for talks with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, whose federation is threatening to boycott the World Cup and Club World Cup over the privatisation scheme. Infantino faces re-election in March 2027, and Motsepe's position effectively buys him time until then, provided the FIFA membership doesn't move faster than the calendar allows. Six Arab federations, including Qatar, Morocco and Egypt, backed Infantino on Thursday morning, a sign the vote, whenever it comes, is far from settled.
