The Confederation of African Football has unanimously reaffirmed its support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, endorsing FIFA’s apology over governance missteps in the abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal .
At a meeting of its Executive Committee, CAF welcomed the “joint update” from Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström, which acknowledged that mistakes were made in the process of the proposed establishment of the FIFA Forward Enterprise . The statement noted that the FIFA Council and member associations should not have felt excluded from the process and accepted the apology for these errors .
CAF President Patrice Motsepe said: “CAF welcomes and endorses the ‘Joint Update’ by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Secretary General Mattias Grafström. CAF will continue to focus on making African Football amongst the best in the world and is reaffirming its commitment to adhering to global governance, transparency and auditing best practices” .
The endorsement comes as Infantino faces mounting pressure from European critics, with UEFA declaring it no longer has confidence in his leadership . CAF’s support is politically significant as its 54 member associations represent the largest voting bloc within FIFA, potentially proving decisive ahead of the March 2027 presidential election .
The FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, which was withdrawn following a global backlash, would have raised $4.2 billion by selling minority stakes in FIFA’s commercial operations to investors . Infantino and Grafström have committed to a review and will present a report to the FIFA Council at its next meeting .