Samuel Eto'o has said Gianni Infantino has done nothing wrong and wants the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal to be put back on the table for discussion if the president is re-elected for a fourth term next year.
Eto'o backs Infantino amid backlash
The Cameroonian Football Federation (FECAFOOT) president is convinced that FIFA selling off minority stakes in its tournaments to private investors would be adopted if it were put to a democratic vote, because he believes it is good for the majority of its members.
Infantino, 56, withdrew the proposal, which Eto'o believes was because the bigger federations took up the media space and gave their point of view, leaving FIFA's president no choice but to backtrack and keep the football family together.
Rare public support
Unlike legends such as Juan Sebastian Veron and Robert Pires, and a member of FIFA's Players' Voice Panel, Mikael Silvestre, who have released a joint statement opposing Infantino, Eto'o is a rare voice who continues to publicly back him.
Speaking to CNN Sports, he said: "I don't think that President Gianni Infantino has done anything wrong. I think the timing of all of that is because there's an election coming up, when Gianni Infantino is standing. All of this has happened because there's an election coming up, that's all there is."
Eto'o added: "President Gianni Infantino has changed football. He's given opportunities to nations that didn't have those opportunities to take part in the most beautiful tournament, the World Cup. He enabled smaller nations to get seats at these competitions. He has helped our continent. He's helped our federations to develop much more quickly, and we need to acknowledge that. We need to accept and recognise what he's done, and we should support him for everything he's done up to now."
FFE proposal and African interests
On the FFE proposal, Eto'o said: "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, and he decided to withdraw the project. I remain convinced that for us as Africans, this project was something that could have been incredible. It would have reset the balance of power in football to ensure that our talent doesn't disappear and end up playing for other nations."
On that subject, he said: "There are federations in other continents that are in the same situation as us (Cameroon), that find themselves more or less at the same financial level as us to develop the football that we love so much. We want to see the (Lionel) Messis, we want to see the Mbappes, but I would like to see Mbappe play for Cameroon." Mbappe's father, Wilfrid, was born near the country's largest city, Douala, which made his son eligible to represent them internationally before playing for France.
Eto'o concluded: "At the end of the day, those who have talked about the project and who've given their opinion haven't properly read what it's all about, and in some cases, they looked at it from their dominant position," and concluded: "I want to see all of my colleagues, all of the presidents, re-reading the project.
"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. I remain convinced that, if there is a democratic vote, this project will be adopted because it's good for the majority."
