Veteran African football journalist Mamadou Gaye has thrown his weight behind FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s controversial private-investment plan, hailing it as the best thing for CAF and world football.
In a post on X, the long-time ‘Soccer Africa’ analyst went as far as to describe Infantino as a “world genius” who “deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.”
The Ivorian pundit’s glowing endorsement adds a prominent African voice of support to a proposal that has sharply divided the game.
Under the plan, FIFA would sell a stake in the commercial rights to the World Cup and its other competitions to private investors, with member associations promised a windfall.
Supporters argue it could hand smaller nations tens of millions of dollars and reduce their reliance on government funding.
The proposal has, however, drawn fierce opposition from UEFA and CONCACAF, and FIFA has given all 211 member associations until 19 September to accept it or lose most of their funding.
-africanfolder