CAIRO — The Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Committee has unanimously endorsed the joint update issued by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Secretary General Mattias Grafström on the controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), while reaffirming Africa’s commitment to stronger governance, transparency and due process in the administration of the global game.
The decision represents a significant political endorsement of the FIFA leadership as divisions over the proposed commercialisation structure continue to expose competing interests within world football.
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CAF said its Executive Committee had unanimously endorsed the “Joint Update” by Infantino and Grafström and would continue to focus on making African football “amongst the best in the world” while adhering to global best practices in governance, transparency and auditing.
The decision follows FIFA’s acknowledgement that mistakes were made in the process surrounding the proposed establishment of FFE, including concerns that FIFA Council members and the wider FIFA membership felt excluded from the process.
FIFA acknowledges mistakes
CAF said it had taken note of FIFA’s admission that the process surrounding FFE should have been handled differently.
In their joint update, Infantino and Grafström acknowledged that “mistakes were made” and apologised for the way the proposal had been developed.
They said it had not been their intention for the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations to feel excluded from the process and committed to ensuring that similar problems would not occur again.
FIFA said it would conduct a review of the process, with a report to be presented to the FIFA Council at its next scheduled meeting.
Importantly, FIFA confirmed that the FFE proposal is now off the table.
The FIFA leadership nevertheless maintained that, despite mistakes in the process, the actions taken had been carried out in full compliance with the organisation’s regulatory framework.
CAF’s endorsement therefore does not amount to a demand that the original FFE structure be revived. Rather, it represents support for the FIFA leadership’s acknowledgement of the procedural shortcomings and its commitment to review the process.
Motsepe: Governance and transparency are non-negotiable
CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe said the continental body welcomed and endorsed the joint update while reaffirming its commitment to governance and institutional accountability.
“CAF will continue to focus on making African Football amongst the best in the world and is reaffirming its commitment to adhering to global governance, transparency and auditing best practices,” Motsepe said.
He stressed that governance, due process and transparency were particularly important for Africa because the same standards are expected from governments, businesses and other institutions across the continent.
“For us in Africa, adherence to governance, due process and transparency is crucial and non-negotiable,” Motsepe said.
He added that CAF would continue working with FIFA, its member associations, other football confederations and stakeholders to safeguard governance, due process and transparency while contributing to the development of football globally.
CAF backs Infantino
The CAF Executive Committee also unanimously reconfirmed its support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino and thanked him for what it described as his support for African football over the years.
The endorsement is politically significant because the FIFA presidency has come under increasing pressure from sections of European football amid disagreements over governance, commercialisation and the concentration of decision-making authority.
CAF’s position demonstrates that the dispute is not producing a uniform global opposition to Infantino and that African football remains firmly aligned with the FIFA leadership.
CAF also thanked Infantino, Grafström and the FIFA administration for organising what it described as a very successful FIFA World Cup 2026.
Africa’s football economy remains central to CAF agenda
While the political dispute over FFE has attracted international attention, CAF’s statement placed considerable emphasis on the economic development of African football.
Motsepe said CAF would continue developing boys’ and girls’ football, coaches and trainers, national teams across its 54 member associations and amateur and professional leagues throughout the continent.
CAF also said progress was being made in discussions with existing and new sponsors, partners and investors.
The objective is to ensure that CAF remains financially self-supporting and independent, while creating the financial capacity to construct and upgrade stadiums and other football infrastructure.
That commercial objective is critical to the long-term development of African football.
The continent remains one of the world’s largest sources of football talent, but its domestic leagues and football institutions generally operate with substantially smaller commercial revenues than Europe’s major competitions.
Increasing sponsorship, investment, broadcasting and commercial revenues is therefore essential if African football is to reduce its dependence on external development funding.
FFE debate exposes global football’s economic divide
The controversy surrounding FFE has developed into a much wider debate about the future economics of world football.
The original proposal sought to create a FIFA-controlled commercial entity capable of consolidating and expanding commercial activities including broadcasting, sponsorship, licensing, ticketing and the commercial exploitation of FIFA competitions.
The proposed structure was reportedly valued at about US$20 billion, with plans to raise as much as US$4.2 billion from minority investors.
For African football associations, the potential attraction was the prospect of substantially larger development allocations.
The proposed FIFA Fast Forward Programme would have provided each FIFA member association with access to as much as US$20 million in exceptional immediate funding, while proposed regular Forward allocations would have increased to US$20 million per association for 2027–2030, US$22 million for 2031–2034 and US$24 million for 2035–2038.
That scale of funding could potentially transform football infrastructure and development programmes in countries where domestic football revenues remain limited.
Europe’s concerns remain
The CAF endorsement comes despite serious opposition from parts of European football. Europeans have their own economic interests aired viciously, which are not converging with others
European football authorities have raised concerns about governance, transparency, consultation and the proposed structure of FIFA’s commercialisation plans.
Those concerns remain legitimate, particularly given FIFA’s admission that the process surrounding FFE could have been handled differently.
But Africa’s position reflects another dimension of the debate: the economic interests of the 54 African football associations and their desire to secure a greater share of the financial value generated by global football.
FIFA has 211 member associations, with each holding one vote at Congress. UEFA has 55 members, CAF 54 and the Asian Football Confederation 46. Africa and Asia therefore collectively represent 100 FIFA votes.
This gives developing football regions considerable political influence even though Europe’s leagues and clubs remain overwhelmingly dominant in the commercial football economy.
Africa wants development and independence
Motsepe’s comments indicate that CAF’s strategy is not simply to seek larger allocations from FIFA.
The organisation wants to develop a financially sustainable continental football economy capable of supporting itself through sponsorship, investment, broadcasting and commercial partnerships.
CAF said discussions with current and prospective sponsors, partners and investors were progressing, with the objective of strengthening its financial independence.
That strategy could eventually allow African football to retain more of the value generated by its own competitions, players, audiences and commercial markets.
The economic argument behind greater commercialisation is therefore particularly relevant to Africa, where football has enormous cultural reach but domestic leagues frequently struggle to convert that popularity into sustainable revenues.
WAFCON provides commercial platform
CAF also highlighted the success of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) 2026, currently being staged in Morocco.
The organisation said the quality of football at the tournament has been very high and described the competition as a major success.
The growth of women’s football represents an important commercial opportunity for CAF and its member associations.
A successful WAFCON can strengthen broadcasting value, attract sponsors, increase stadium attendance and create new opportunities for players, clubs and national associations.
The tournament also forms part of CAF’s wider objective of developing both boys’ and girls’ football across the continent.
Infrastructure remains a priority
CAF’s emphasis on stadium and football infrastructure is equally significant.
The continent continues to face major infrastructure gaps, ranging from training facilities and pitches to stadiums, broadcasting systems, medical facilities and digital administration.
Greater commercial revenues could allow CAF and its member associations to invest in these areas while reducing dependence on government funding.
For countries such as Zimbabwe, where domestic football revenues remain constrained, access to properly structured international football investment could have significant economic implications.
But CAF’s renewed emphasis on governance and auditing also reflects the reality that increased financial flows require stronger institutional controls.
A carefully balanced African position
CAF’s statement ultimately represents a carefully balanced position.
The continental body has endorsed the FIFA leadership’s response to the FFE controversy and reconfirmed its support for Infantino, while simultaneously insisting that governance, due process, transparency and auditing must remain non-negotiable.
That distinction is important.
Supporting FIFA does not necessarily mean endorsing every commercial proposal put forward by its administration. Indeed, the original FFE proposal has already been withdrawn.
What CAF is endorsing is the FIFA leadership’s acknowledgement of the procedural failures, its commitment to review the process and its continued engagement with the global football membership.
For Africa, the broader strategic objective remains clear: develop its football institutions, strengthen its domestic competitions, attract investment and sponsors, upgrade infrastructure and eventually build a football economy that is commercially self-sustaining.
The collapse of FFE therefore does not end the commercialisation debate.
It may instead force FIFA to return to the drawing board with a structure that offers greater transparency, wider consultation and stronger governance safeguards.
For African football, that could ultimately be more important than the fate of the original proposal.
CAF’s unanimous decision sends a powerful political signal that Africa intends to remain engaged in shaping that future rather than allowing the commercial and institutional architecture of world football to be determined exclusively by its most powerful traditional markets.
The battle over FFE may have ended for now.
The much larger battle over who controls, finances and benefits from the future economic value of global football is only beginning.
