FIFA presidential candidate Infanito got a rare special backing from the South Sudan Federation who defied CAF’s directive of voting for Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa, the current Asian Football Confederation president.

Addressing the South Sudanese FA in Juba, the outgoing FIFA Secretary has promised to have seven African teams in the  2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and also to push to have seven Africans in the FIFA executive up from four including a female in the seven. 

During his visit on Saturday, Gianni was accompanied by the former Cameroonian
national football player Geremi Njitap. He said that he will put the subject of football
development, especially for women in South Sudan, for consideration.
The football official was meant to spend only a few hours in Juba during a tour of
african nations but he arrived on Saturday, a day when the airport is closed from 6:00 in
the evening, preventing his immediate departure.

He said also he will engage the South Sudan football association on participation in
strategic annual meetings for top executives defining the strategy and priorities of FIFA,
and make FIFA ready to listen to South Sudan at all times with dedicated contact
persons.
He concluded by saying that the road ahead is full of challenges in front of him, but he
will work for united football.
Gianni Infantino is 45 years old, a Swiss football administrator of Italian origin. He has
been the general secretary of UEFA, the administrative body for association
footballin Europe, since 2009 and holds both Swiss and Italian nationality.
On 26 October 2015, Infantino received the full backing of the UEFA Executive
Committee to stand for the position of FIFA president in the upcoming FIFA
Extraordinary Congress.

additional reporting by radio tamazuj

Austin Oduor

talking African football