Cameroon FA president says FIFA chief has done nothing wrong and argues controversial FFE proposal could help narrow football’s financial divide.
By Boris Esono Nwenfor
BUEA, PAV – The president of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), Samuel Eto’o, has thrown his support behind FIFA president Gianni Infantino, arguing that the world football governing body’s leader has done nothing wrong over a controversial financial proposal that has triggered backlash worldwide.
In an exclusive interview with CNN Sports, Samuel Eto’o said criticism of Infantino and the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal had been amplified by the approaching FIFA presidential election, scheduled for March.
“I don’t think that President Gianni Infantino has done anything wrong,” Eto’o told CNN Sports when asked about the FIFA president’s handling of the proposal. “I think the timing of all of that is because there’s an election coming up, when Gianni Infantino is standing.”
Infantino has faced mounting criticism over the FFE plan, which was withdrawn after opposition from several football confederations and stakeholders. The controversy has fuelled calls for the FIFA president to resign, while UEFA has threatened to boycott future tournaments. CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation have also called for changes in FIFA’s leadership.
The Confederation of African Football has been among Gianni Infantino’s strongest supporters, although the extent of support among individual African football associations remains a matter of political debate.
Eto’o firmly behind FIFA president
The former FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Antalyaspor and Anzhi Makhachkala player, who was re-elected president of FECAFOOT in November 2025 for a second four-year mandate, said Infantino had transformed the global game by creating greater opportunities for smaller football nations. “President Gianni Infantino has changed football,” Eto’o said, urging African football leaders to support him.
He pointed to the expansion of opportunities for nations that previously struggled to participate in major international competitions, as well as increased support for football development across Africa. “He has helped our continent. He’s helped our federations to develop much more quickly, and we need to acknowledge that,” Eto’o said.
The former Indomitable Lions captain also defended the substance of the FFE proposal, saying it could have helped redistribute football’s wealth and narrow the financial gap between the sport’s richest and less wealthy nations.
Eto’o argued that greater resources could allow smaller federations to improve infrastructure, develop talent and compete more effectively with established football powers.
He said such investment could ultimately help African countries retain players with international potential. “We want to see the Messis, we want to see the Mbappés, but I would like to see Mbappé play for Cameroon,” Eto’o said, referring to France forward Kylian Mbappé, whose father has Cameroonian heritage.
According to Eto’o, the proposal was ultimately withdrawn because larger football nations had dominated the debate and raised objections to the plan. “The bigger nations took up the media space. They gave their point of view, and President Gianni Infantino wanted to keep the family of football together. He decided to withdraw the project,” Samuel Eto’o, who won the CAF African Footballer of the Year a record-tying four times, said.
Eto’o nevertheless maintained that the proposal remained valuable for African football. “I remain convinced that for us as Africans, this project was something that could have been incredible,” he said, arguing that it could help “reset the balance of power in football” and prevent African talent from being lost to other national teams.
He also suggested that some critics had not fully understood the proposal before opposing it. Eto’o called on football association presidents to reconsider the plan after the FIFA election that is scheduled for March 18, 2027, during the 77th FIFA Congress in Rabat, Morocco.
“I want to see all of my colleagues, all of the presidents, re-reading the project,” he said. “After President Infantino is re-elected, we will have the strength to ask for this project to be put back on the table for discussion.”
He said he believed the proposal could ultimately win support through a democratic vote. “I remain convinced that, if there is a democratic vote, this project will be adopted because it’s good for the majority,” Eto’o said.
