The board of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Thursday evening that the continent's support for International Football Association (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino remains ahead of the re-election during the congress in March.
Despite all the hype surrounding the Swiss plan to sell shares of the World Cup to private investors, which has now been scrapped.
I am not surprised at all, says Lars-Christer Olsson, former general secretary of the European Football Association (Uefa).
"Money talks"
Africa has the second most votes (54) in Fifa after Uefa (55).
Africa has always been fond of Infantino. He is good at managing his networks. And somewhere there is the money issue too - “money talks”.
Concacaf (the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean) has seemingly stood side by side with Europe, but Mexico's support for Infantino could be the first sign of a rift in the continental confederation of 35 FIFA members.
"It could probably be a thank you for Mexico being allowed to host the World Cup. Then I don't know if there has been a discussion about financial support. Infantino is good at both promising and negotiating," says Olsson.
If nations follow their continental alliances, Europe and Africa effectively eliminate each other. Which makes Asia (46) with its motley crew of alliances a key continent.
Japan and South Korea may have little in common with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in many football matters, but the AFC itself is heavily dependent on the flow of money from Arab countries to the continent's various tournaments.
Yes, constantly. In that sense, the AFC is a divided continent. Everything will boil down to each individual member country having to take a stand.
Is the prince chosen?
Uefa has been clear that Infantino will be challenged, but no opposing candidate has been presented. If votes are to be captured globally, a candidate from Europe is practically ruled out.
Olsson highlights Jordan's Prince Ali bin al-Hussein - chairman of the country's football association - as a suggestion. The prince has announced that the small Asian federation will not support Infantino for re-election. He lost to Sepp Blatter in the 2015 FIFA election and to Infantino, among others, in 2016.
"Then it is not certain that the member countries in Asia and the Arab countries in North Africa will follow that proposal," says Lars-Christer Olsson.
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) consists of 211 member associations, all of which have voting rights on the issues raised during a congress.
The federations do not vote in blocs, but can seek consensus within the respective continental federation on many major issues.
There are a total of six continental federations.
The Union of European Football Associations (Uefa) is the largest with 55 FIFA members, closely followed by the Confederation of African Football (Caf), which has 54 FIFA members.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has 46 members, the North and Central American and Caribbean Confederation (Concacaf) has 35, the Oceania Confederation (OFC) has 11 and the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) has 10 FIFA members.
The next ordinary FIFA Congress will be held in Rabat, Morocco, in March 2027. A presidential election will be held then, and currently incumbent President Gianni Infantino is the only candidate.
The deadline for running as a candidate is November 18th.
