Cameroon Football Federation president Samuel Eto’o has endorsed Gianni Infantino’s bid for another term as FIFA president, praising the Swiss administrator for expanding opportunities for African football and supporting the development of national federations.
Eto’o, speaking to French newspaper L’Equipe, urged African football leaders to recognise Infantino’s contribution to the continent and unite behind his re-election campaign ahead of the 2027 FIFA presidential election.
“President Gianni Infantino has changed football,” Eto’o said. “He has helped our continent. He has helped our federations develop much more quickly, and we have to recognise that.”
The former Cameroon captain highlighted the expansion of the men’s FIFA World Cup from 32 to 48 teams as one of Infantino’s most significant contributions to African football.
Africa will have nine direct qualification places at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, compared with five places at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
“He has given opportunities to nations that had never had the chance to take part in the greatest tournament of all, the World Cup,” Eto’o added.
Infantino has confirmed that he will seek another term when FIFA’s Congress meets on March 18, 2027.
Eto’o’s backing comes amid growing tensions between FIFA and UEFA over the governance and distribution of football development resources.
UEFA recently opposed FIFA’s proposal to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a commercial subsidiary that would have managed the commercial rights of major FIFA competitions and potentially allowed outside investors to take a stake.
Although FIFA abandoned the proposal, UEFA has continued to question how the project was handled and has sought access to evidence in the United States as part of a possible criminal complaint in Switzerland involving Infantino and other FIFA officials.
Eto’o, however, argued that African federations face financial realities that differ significantly from those of Europe’s wealthiest associations.
He said many African football bodies operate with limited budgets and remain reliant on government support, making it difficult to compete with better-funded federations.
“When you see some federations with budgets of 150,000 euros, how can they compete against the big countries?” Eto’o said. “We will never be able to have the same perception of things as the big countries.”
The four-time African Footballer of the Year also linked Africa’s financial limitations to the loss of players of African heritage to European national teams.
“If we in Cameroon had the possibility of relying on a budget of $20 million or $40 million per year, of course we would have had players like Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni,” he said.
While acknowledging UEFA’s importance to global football, Eto’o maintained that Europe should not be treated as the only or most important confederation within FIFA.
“UEFA is an important confederation for FIFA. It contributes enormously to football, but it should not be considered the only or the most important confederation,” he said.
