In an interview with L'Équipe, Samuel Eto'o, president of the Cameroon Football Federation, explained why he supports Gianni Infantino and why he opposes UEFA's actions against the FIFA president. The former Barcelona and Inter Milan star stated that the challenges faced by African football necessitate a different approach to its development.

Eto'o has been celebrating since August 16, when the Cameroon women's national team won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations final in Morocco. This was his first major success since becoming president of the Cameroon Football Federation on December 11, 2021. The former Barcelona and Inter Milan star has decided to support Gianni Infantino in the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March 2027. He provided an explanation for this decision.

FIFA previously attempted to privatize some World Cup rights, although the plan ultimately didn't materialize. At the time, didn't you feel that FIFA was selling off football?

Eto'o: But we were already selling football! Who funds football? It's the companies that buy advertising and media space. And who owns those companies? Europe also considers its own interests and faces pressure from clubs. So why should we be criticized when we consider our own interests?

Today, President Infantino gives Africans the opportunity to dream of developing football. He has contributed to the progress of African football; otherwise, you wouldn't see so many federation headquarters being built.

Is that also the case in Cameroon?

Eto'o: We bore a part of the funding ourselves, and another part was provided by FIFA through the FIFA Forward program. These are tangible things that help us nurture talent. A few years from now, when we have players like Roger Milla and Kylian Mbappé, they might come from the support these funds provide.

So, you had hoped that everyone would discuss that much-talked-about proposal?

Eto'o: Yes. Some people want to tell us that he, Infantino, was wrong because he didn't go through the FIFA Council. But who elects the members of the FIFA Council? It's the presidents of the federations. If they agree to a project, then it still needs to be approved by the Congress. And who is the Congress? 211 federation presidents. So it's important to ask each president to make a decision and state their position according to their conscience.

But Gianni Infantino has already decided to withdraw this proposal. So isn't that matter closed?

Eto'o: No. We have mechanisms in place to bring this matter back to the table after the FIFA presidential election in March next year.

We can ask the federation presidents to express their views on this at the Congress. The majority opinion should be implemented. We cannot be distracted by other things. The discussion should still revert to the project itself: Is it good or not?

However, Infantino is currently under a lot of pressure, especially from UEFA...

Eto'o: If I were the FIFA president, this pressure wouldn't be as significant for me. Because we still have to adhere to the will of the majority, which is the essence of our sport. UEFA is certainly an important continental confederation for FIFA, and it has made huge contributions to football, but it shouldn't be regarded as the only or most important continental confederation. This kind of discussion is inherently biased.

And people don't realize the challenges that African federation presidents face. Without government help, do you think we can even play football? Some federations get 95%, or even 100%, of their funding from the government, and these countries themselves already face very severe challenges.

We can never view these issues from the same perspective. When you see some federations with an annual budget of only 150,000 euros, how can they compete with those footballing powerhouses? No one asks how some African federation presidents organize football in their countries. But once talent leaves, everyone turns around and blames us.

If in Cameroon, we could have a budget of 20 or 40 million US dollars every year, then of course we would also have players like Mbappé and Tchouaméni. Our football would also be better organized.

Some former African football legends, such as Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Adebayor, also participated in a joint article opposing Infantino. What are your thoughts on that?

Eto'o: I don't know exactly what Didier and Adebayor did. But now I've learned about many new issues. I also hope that former players who haven't had the chance to become administrators will one day truly understand the challenges we currently face. When that happens, their perspective on these issues will be different.

For example, as a federation president, one very draining task is that you have to seek resources all over the world.

I am still trying to convince some players' parents of how important it is for their children to play for Cameroon. If we can get this financial support from FIFA, we will no longer face these problems in the future, and these parents will no longer have such doubts.

Do you like your current role? Are you still happy with so many issues to deal with?

Eto'o: When a player tells me, "President, I got paid at the end of the year," I'm very happy.

When I see a female footballer tell me, "President, thank you, I got paid," I'm also very happy.

(Eto'o established a minimum wage system for the Cameroonian domestic league.)

It's these small victories, one after another, that make me feel the joy of being a federation president. My life experience has already been incredible, but when you can find solutions to the major problems faced by millions of footballers, this experience becomes even more incredible.

I know what it feels like to have nothing, not even a pair of football boots. But today, the problems we face also include whether there are fields to play on, whether there is food to eat, and whether we can drink clean water. Yes, that's how difficult the reality is!

How can you ask me to think like a European football association president? When I first took office, we made a decision: if a flight is longer than three hours, the national team must travel by private jet.

You cannot imagine how many difficulties our government faced to implement this decision. Sometimes in the past, a trip could even take two days. When we participated in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, we even went by military aircraft...

These are the challenges you keep talking about...

Eto'o: So, when I hear people say that we must listen to others, or that we are just a supplementary role, I get annoyed. We have exactly the same rights as all other federation presidents.

European clubs certainly have a lot of influence, but for many clubs, that influence also depends on the contributions of African players. Of course, the situation is much more regulated now than in my time. It's much less common now to see African players risk traveling to Europe only to end up stranded on the streets of Paris or London.

But people don't realize that some of our young people have to walk 20 kilometers just because they dream of becoming footballers, because there isn't a single pitch near their homes.

How many stadiums are there in Paris? Why can't we Africans have dreams? Why can't we build our own countries in this way? And this needs to be achieved through plans like those proposed by President Infantino.

But Infantino could still lose the election, couldn't he?

Eto'o: That's the risk of running for election, but it won't change my decision; I will still support him.

Don't you really think his focus on Africa is solely for electoral gain?

Eto'o: Of course, he might have his own goals and things he wants to achieve. But we are all responsible people. If we blame Infantino for all the problems plaguing African football, we are actually shirking our own responsibilities.

When someone comes to tell us that President Gianni wants this, and President Gianni wants that... but he's not on the CAF Executive Committee! If it's a decision made by Africans themselves, why should he be responsible for it?

There was a time when you were completely against Infantino, including his push to change the Africa Cup of Nations to a quadrennial event...

Eto'o: But since then, I've joined the CAF Executive Committee. We have confidential discussions internally. After the discussions, I will abide by the position of the majority of the Executive Committee.

I will also take responsibility for the decisions made by this Executive Committee, including the decision to change the Africa Cup of Nations to a quadrennial event. And this decision was made in CAF, decided by the presidents of African federations.

So you don't think these federation presidents are compromising on the subsidies promised by Infantino?

Eto'o: But we also have the freedom to tell him that if he doesn't provide these subsidies, we won't vote for him! And based on the Gianni I know, I don't think he would speak in that way.

People attribute many things to him. When you're managing football, which is loved by the whole world, it's inherently a very difficult job.

But look at the revenue from the Qatar World Cup, and then look at the revenue from the US World Cup – this is exactly what we hope football can achieve. Without money, we cannot develop football. People must realize this.

When you see some fans, and an African referee – Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan – banned from entering the United States, and FIFA makes no statement on this, how do you react?

Eto'o: That enters the political realm. We should, through communication, explain to President Trump or presidents of other countries how important it is to have our fans present.

But when we host the World Cup, we cannot impose our laws on others. Even I, when going through the procedures at the US embassy in Yaoundé, was asked if I planned to stay in the US after going there. There are some laws we must obey, just as we must obey the rules of football.

Of course, we are very disappointed about the situation of that referee and those fans. However, why did the US immigration authorities take such a stance on that referee? You don't know, and neither do I. And as a federation president, we must be responsible and also have a duty to exercise restraint.

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