Africa’s 54 federations back a new term for Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, according to ACP, which attributes the rallying to the involvement of the Congolese head of state, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo. The date of the election is not known.
According to ACP, the continent’s 54 federations have unanimously decided to support Gianni Infantino’s candidacy for a new term at the head of FIFA. Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is presented by the Congolese agency as the driving force behind this gathering.
The support comes as Gianni Infantino has to contend with revolts from European federations, again according to ACP. This bloc would provide backing for an election whose date has not been specified. The official Congolese agency sees it as the culmination of a dynamic launched in Praia, Cape Verde, by CAF president Patrice Motsepe.
Kinshasa claims a leading role
ACP attributes a decisive share of this rallying to the Congolese head of state. “The unwavering and direct support of President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo seals a historic geostrategic alliance between Kinshasa and Zurich,” the agency writes. This is a reading by the official Congolese agency: the file contains no confirmation of this role by FIFA or by CAF.
The file nonetheless details neither the arrangements for this presidential involvement nor the commitments that would accompany it.
FIFA Forward, a campaign argument
The financial argument is put forward by the same source. ACP presents the FIFA Forward programme as an investment of more than a billion dollars. The file specifies neither the period covered nor the detail of the sums paid to the continent.
Besides Patrice Motsepe, the file names two officials, Veron Mosengo-Omba and Amadou Diaby, without specifying their role. Nor does the file contain confirmation of the unanimity reported by ACP, either by FIFA or by CAF.
The biennial AFCON in the background
The format of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is raised in parallel. In an opinion piece published by Botola, AB. Lahouari argues that the biennial AFCON serves as “bait” for Infantino in the battle for the FIFA presidency. “Infantino knows that an AFCON every two years would be popular with many federations. The trick is done,” he writes. This is an opinion assessment, not confirmed information.
In December 2025, CAF had announced the switch of the AFCON to a four-year cycle after 2028, before the file was reopened in Cape Verde, Botola recalls.
What remains is the electoral deadline, whose date has not been communicated according to ACP. The file mentions no rival candidate.