Soccer-Infantino invited to African summit as he faces challenge to FIFA leadership

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Semi Final - France v Spain - Dallas Stadium, Arlington, Texas, U.S. - July 14, 2026 FIFA President Gianni Infantino before the match IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Maria Lysaker

CAPE TOWN, Sept 18 (Reuters) - ⁠FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been invited by the Confederation of African Football to ⁠attend a two-day Strategy Conference in Cape Verde next month.

A letter sent from CAF ‌to member associations this week, seen by Reuters and verified by member associations, invited the 54 presidents to the meeting on October 7 and 8 after CAF president Patrice Motsepe had previously mooted the idea several times.

The South African mining ​billionaire is a close ally of Infantino, who is facing a ⁠potential challenge to his leadership ahead ⁠of next year’s FIFA presidential election.

CAF’s executive committee last month expressed its support for Infantino, and a ⁠number ‌of individual African football associations have also said they are backing him as he faces the biggest challenge to his presidency following the collapse of his proposal to sell ⁠a stake of up to 20% in FIFA competitions, including the ​World Cup, to private investors.

The ‌plan prompted fierce opposition from UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF and led ⁠to calls for change ​at the top of FIFA. But Africa expressed no objection to the plan and has since said it was standing by Infantino.

While past FIFA votes have often seen a split in the African vote, the endorsement ⁠from CAF has come in contrast to the fierce criticism ​of Infantino’s actions from other parts of the footballing world.

Africa’s 54 votes are a significant number of the 211 member associations who will vote if Infantino faces a challenger at the election in Rabat ⁠in March.

The 56-year-old Swiss has confirmed he is standing for re-election but no potential opponent has yet emerged despite UEFA saying it was searching for a credible challenger.

CAF said the conference agenda would be sent to member associations in due course.

On October 9, there will also be a review of ​the 2026 World Cup to which the national team coach of ⁠every African association has been invited, led by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who is now FIFA's ​Chief of Global Football Development.

Reviews of tactical trends, refereeing and ‌logistical matters and other issues from the playing field ​have been hosted by FIFA on every continent after every World Cup since the 2010 finals in South Africa.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)

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足球 - 2026年国际足联世界杯 - 半决赛 - 法国对阵西班牙 - 美国德克萨斯州阿灵顿达拉斯体育场 - 2026年7月14日 国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺赛前 图片来源：路透社/玛丽亚·莱萨克

开普敦，9 月 18 日（路透社）——国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺已受非洲足球联合会邀请，将于下个月出席在佛得角举行的为期两天的战略会议。

路透社看到了一封非洲足联本周发给各成员协会的信函，该信函也得到了各成员协会的证实。信中邀请 54 位主席于 10 月 7 日和 8 日参加会议。此前，非洲足联主席帕特里斯·莫特塞佩曾多次提出这一想法。

这位南非矿业亿万富翁是因凡蒂诺的亲密盟友，因凡蒂诺在明年的国际足联主席选举中面临着潜在的领导地位挑战。

上个月，非洲足联执行委员会表示支持因凡蒂诺，一些非洲足球协会也表示支持他，因为在他向私人投资者出售包括世界杯在内的国际足联赛事高达 20% 的股份的提议失败后，他正面临着主席任期内最大的挑战。

该计划引发了欧足联、亚足联和中北美及加勒比海足联的强烈反对，并导致各方呼吁国际足联高层进行改组。但非洲方面并未对该计划表示反对，并已表示将支持因凡蒂诺。

尽管过去的国际足联投票中，非洲国家的投票经常出现分歧，但非洲足联的支持与足球界其他地区对因凡蒂诺行为的强烈批评形成了鲜明对比。

非洲的 54 票在 211 个成员协会中占有相当大的比例，如果因凡蒂诺在 3 月份拉巴特举行的选举中面临挑战者，这些协会将进行投票。

这位 56 岁的瑞士人已确认将竞选连任，但尽管欧足联表示正在寻找一位有竞争力的挑战者，目前仍未出现潜在的对手。

非洲足联表示，会议议程将适时发送给各成员协会。

10 月 9 日还将举行 2026 年世界杯的审查会议，每个非洲足联的国家队教练都受邀参加，会议由前阿森纳主教练、现任国际足联全球足球发展主管阿尔塞纳·温格主持。

自 2010 年南非世界杯决赛以来，国际足联在每届世界杯后都会在各大洲举办研讨会，对战术趋势、裁判和后勤问题以及其他比赛相关问题进行回顾。

（马克·格里森在开普敦撰稿；克莱尔·法伦编辑）

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