A political storm is brewing within Fifa as senior figures in African football have reportedly reached out to the organisation's general secretary, Mattias Grafström, to gauge his willingness to challenge Gianni Infantino for the presidency next year.
According to information obtained by the Guardian, as many as 15 African federations could withdraw their backing for Infantino in the upcoming election, despite the Confederation of African Football (Caf) publicly stating that its executive committee had "unanimously reconfirmed" support for the 56-year-old.
Grafström, a 45-year-old Swede who became Fifa's permanent general secretary in May 2024, initially kept his distance from Infantino's controversial Fifa Forward Enterprise initiative. In an internal memo circulated shortly after the plan to sell a 20% stake in the World Cup's commercial rights collapsed, he wrote that "individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go" — language interpreted by many as a veiled criticism of the leadership. He later reversed course, signing a letter pledging "full support" to Infantino and subsequently confirming the dismissal of chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, who had been a vocal critic of the scrapped commercial plan.
Despite his subsequent alignment with Infantino, sources say Grafström's early hesitancy caught the attention of Infantino's critics within African football. At least two presidents of African federations contacted him by phone last week to explore whether he might consider running. Grafström reportedly reacted with surprise and gave no firm answer either way.
An executive committee member speaking to the Guardian explained the thinking behind the approach: "They think that Matthias can group all the continents together and then go forward. I don't know what his position is right now but if he can bring all these people together then he would get some support. Matthias is a very open-minded guy and he always listens to what we think."
Caf has long been considered a reliable base of support for Infantino, but cracks are appearing. Frustration has reportedly intensified in multiple member nations following a decision — believed to have been driven by Fifa — to hold the Africa Cup of Nations every four years instead of every two.
The depth of this discontent was evident at Caf's most recent executive committee meeting on 7 August, where only four of the 21 members present publicly voiced support for Infantino. Those four included Caf president Patrice Motsepe and vice-president Fouzi Lekjaa of Morocco. One attendee described the mood in the room: "The rest remained silent. People don't want to give their views in public because they are waiting to see what happens."
Africa's 54 member associations could prove decisive in any bid to remove Infantino, given that a successful challenger would need to secure 106 of Fifa's 211 total votes. Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation, has already positioned himself in opposition to Infantino alongside Uefa and Concacaf, and is thought to retain meaningful support in Africa dating back to his defeat to Infantino in the 2015 election. "If Salman is coming for sure he's going to be elected," said the exco source. "If Europe will give him support, he will get the support from Asia, he will get support from Concacaf. And he will get some support from Africa. For sure, 10 to 15 people will vote for Salman."
However, any candidate hoping to unseat Infantino has been told they must match his financial commitments to the continent, referencing the scrapped Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme that promised roughly $20m annually to each association. "If Uefa or anyone else has something better, they should propose it," the source added. "If someone will come and say, 'OK we are going to have an agreement with Uefa that means we support poor countries so we can build good infrastructures there' then they will support him."
Based on reporting from the Guardian.