African football progress will shape future support for Infantino, says Benin chief

African football’s development, rather than the recent governance dispute surrounding Fifa president Gianni Infantino, will determine how the continent approaches future leadership decisions, according to Benin Football Federation president Marcellin Bocove.

Bocove said African officials would judge Infantino’s record by the progress made in football across the continent, while warning that further investment was still required. He was speaking ahead of the Fifa U-20 Women’s World Cup, which begins on Saturday and runs until 27 September in Poland.

The tournament is the first global Fifa competition since a dispute over Infantino’s proposal to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors.

The Swiss administrator abandoned the plan in late July after strong opposition from European governing body Uefa and other stakeholders. The proposal valued the commercial rights to the World Cup and other Fifa tournaments at $20bn (£15.2bn).

Infantino later apologised for “errors” made during the Fifa forward enterprise proposal, but continued to defend the idea as a way of directing more money towards poorer national football federations.

Although he has faced calls to resign, Infantino retains the backing of the African and South American confederations. He has also announced that he intends to seek a fourth term as Fifa president in March 2027.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of Benin’s training session in Katowice on Friday, Bocove said the focus should remain on the results achieved during Infantino’s time in office.

“It is not up to me to say whether he [Infantino] is the right person or not, but we look at the track record of what’s been done over the past 10 years or so,” Bocove told Reuters on the sidelines of Benin’s training session in Katowice on Friday.

“What is important for us is that Africa progresses in the development of football, and that is more what we will be basing our position on going forward.”

Asked if Benin would vote for Infantino in the 2027 election, Bocove said it was too soon to make a commitment.

“It’s too early to answer such a question. We don’t know how things will unfold by then.”

Bocove said African football had made clear progress in recent years, but argued that the continent’s needs could only be met by continuing to increase investment.

“There is investment,” he added. “We need to continue, keep going in the same direction, and so that calls for even more investment, and so the needs are there, we have to address them.”

Gideon Fosu, a member of the Ghana Football Association’s executive committee, offered a similar assessment. He said he admired Infantino’s stated desire to support the development of football in Africa and called for that objective to be considered beyond the current divisions.

“I think genuinely the passion for Infantino to just want to help develop football in Africa, for me, is something that I admire,” Fosu said.

“I think that the support he requires is what I am hoping that everybody will look beyond setting boundaries.

“So if there’s that structure there, that intention to develop the women’s game and football as a whole in Africa, I think that is something that everybody should support.”

Benin, Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania are the four African nations taking part in the Fifa U-20 Women’s World Cup.