FIFA orders, CAF performs? 1st February, Gianni Infantino, president of the international football authority, presented his plan to put "African football at the center of the world" at a seminar on the development of football competitions and infrastructure in Africa held in Rabat, Morocco.
“For years, we have been talking about the development of African football. Pelé once said that an African team would end up winning the FIFA World Cup, he declared to Ahmad Ahmad, head of the African Football Confederation (CAF), and the representatives of the fifty-four federations that make up the continent. However, his prediction has not yet been fulfilled and everything indicates that there is still some way to go. Today is the time to move in the right direction. "
For this, FIFA offers to train twenty referees, the idea being to professionalize them, to offer them contracts " to undetermined duration " in order to allow them to become "Fully autonomous". Infantino also plans to create a billion dollar (905 million euro) fund for construction " at least one high-quality stadium in each of the fifty-four member associations of FIFA and CAF ". International standard arenas where "Talents" will be able to express themselves.
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Establishment of better governance
The president of the International Football Federation hopes, finally, that the continent will have several other tournaments – notably women's and youth – and proposes the creation of a new pan-African club competition which "Could generate $ 3 billion in revenue over five years" and who would go " crown the true African champion ". "You have to think of a real revolution in African football", said Gianni Infantino. This strategy which he wishes to carry out in conjunction with the representatives of CAF aims to "Advancing African football" and thus multiply the continent's income.
All these proposals thus complete the six-month mission agreed between FIFA and CAF. Indeed, shortly before the summer of 2019, Ahmad Ahmad had requested the assistance of "The mother house" so that it performs a full CAF audit and can assist the Confederation in the establishment of better governance " in order to bring stability, serenity, professionalism and effective development of football on the African continent ". FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura was then appointed "FIFA General Delegate for Africa".
This request was also a way of responding to the recurrent controversies surrounding the corruption that plagues this sport and the federations in this corner of the world. In terms of governance, the International Federation has just implemented a hundred-point action plan to achieve better ethics and clean up the accounts.
"Under the supervision of FIFA"
Since then, the protesters of the President of the African Confederation have repeatedly said that "CAF was under the supervision of FIFA", a criticism that Ahmad Ahmad’s entourage doesn’t support. But to prove that they are right, his detractors recall a recent episode. Almost three months ago, Gianni Infantino presented the new formula for the Club World Cup to be held in China in June 2021. Problem: the African Cup of Nations (CAN) was scheduled to take place at the same time at Cameroon. Indeed, this tournament is now played in the summer since the Cairo edition in 2019 and no longer in winter – or even in spring – as it was since the creation of this competition in 1957.
After the election of Ahmad Ahmad at the head of the Confederation (2017), the Malagasy had decided to shift it in June so that the selections can appeal to their stars and prevent, among other things, that they are not prevented from 'participate by their clubs as was the case when the CAN took place at the beginning of the year.
Every four years like the Euro
Finally, CAF decided to reschedule its Cup in winter, in January, officially for climatic reasons. "To justify his spectacular reversal, he (Ahmad Ahmad) is based on a key word: flexibility. Coming back in winter, he claims, is being flexible. In truth, it is silent about the fact that since the installation of Mme Fatma Samoura at the Cairo headquarters, an installation decided upon by FIFA, the management of CAF is dependent on the will of the International Federation and its president Gianni Infantino, the latter being very involved in the election of Ahmad. Their "recommendations" naturally became orders ”, wrote Pape Diouf in his last column at World Africa.
And that's not all. In Rabat, Infantino said the African Cup of Nations should be held every four years like the Euro. But, precisely, if the CAN is currently played every two years, it is good to give visibility to African football around the world. So what will CAF decide? On February 2, at a meeting of the executive committee of the African Football Confederation, still in Rabat, its leaders decided to continue their collaboration with FIFA …
