This archive report was first published on 18 July 2019.
Published on July 18, 2019, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has rejected criticism that the global soccer body is taking a 'colonialist' attitude towards African football.
Infantino's comments come after FIFA announced it would jointly administer African football with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and send its Senegalese secretary general Fatma Samoura to overhaul the African body.
The move followed corruption allegations against CAF president Ahmad Ahmad, who has denied the claims.
Infantino said he was 'puzzled' by the criticism, which was made by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter in a recent interview with the BBC.
'I have heard about colonialism, that FIFA is colonising Africa again,' Infantino told CAF's general assembly. 'What does it mean, colonialism? I don’t know. It’s not part of my vocabulary.'
Infantino added that FIFA's goal is to help African football grow and become self-sufficient, rather than relying on handouts from the global body.
'The point is to generate revenues for African football from Africa,' he said.
Infantino's comments come as CAF faces a number of challenges, including corruption allegations and a lack of trust in the organization.
