Every one of the 54 member associations that make up the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has formally declared its backing for Gianni Infantino’s candidacy in the 2027 FIFA Presidential election, a unanimous show of African solidarity that carries profound implications for the future governance of world football.
The declaration represents the most consequential political signal of the pre-election period. Africa holds the largest voting bloc among FIFA’s six confederations, with 54 of the 211 total member associations.
Football history has consistently demonstrated that any candidate who secures the full weight of the African vote enters a presidential contest from a position of near-certain advantage.
No individual who has commanded this level of support has ever been denied the top post in world football.
This is not the first time Infantino has benefited from Africa’s unified stance. In 2023, at the FIFA Congress convened in Kigali, Rwanda, the Swiss-Italian administrator was returned to office by acclamation with no rival candidate daring to mount a challenge.
CAF’s strong support played a key role in that result. Now, African football leaders seem ready to continue that support by backing the current FIFA president early ahead of the 2027 election in Morocco.
Africa is not alone in its support. The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), which controls ten votes, publicly endorsed Infantino’s candidacy earlier this month, further consolidating what is rapidly becoming an intercontinental coalition around his continued leadership. Should the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF follow suit, Infantino would effectively be standing unopposed long before the formal election process begins.
Infantino has presided over FIFA since his surprise election in 2016, a victory that came in the immediate aftermath of the corruption crisis that forced his predecessor, Sepp Blatter, from the presidency.
Now approaching a decade at the helm, he has overseen the expansion of the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams, the introduction of the expanded Club World Cup, and a sustained effort to grow the game’s commercial revenues developments that have won him allies across the Global South in particular.
With the election nearly two years away, the political landscape is already taking shape around him. The backing of Africa, combined with CONMEBOL’s endorsement, places Infantino at the head of a formidable alliance. Whether any credible opposition candidacy will emerge before the vote in Morocco remains to be seen, but for now, the path to a fourth term appears as clear as it has ever been.
The Term Limit Question
FIFA’s statutes impose a maximum of three terms in office equivalent to 12 years of service. However, a ruling by FIFA’s own governance bodies determined that Infantino’s initial three-year tenure, which ran from his emergency election in February 2016 to the 2019 Congress, does not constitute a full term under the regulations.
On that basis, the 2027–2031 cycle would formally be counted as his third term, bringing his total service in office to approximately 15 years, 3 more than the limit was originally designed to permit. Critics have questioned the legitimacy of that ruling; arguing it was a correct reading of the rules as written.
Why Africa’s Bloc Decides the FIFA Presidency
CAF = 54
UEFA = 53
AFC = 46
CONCACAF = 35
OFC = 11
CONMEBOL = 10
Total FIFA member associations: 211. CAF’s 54 votes represent the single largest continental bloc historically decisive in every presidential contest.
Source: Eric Njiru