A different view - Samuel Eto'o calls out UEFA for not understanding African football and supports Infantino

The president of the Cameroon Football Federation, Samuel Eto'o, stressed that UEFA does not understand the problems of African football.

The former celebrated striker reflected on the developments in world football in an interview with French newspaper "L'Equipe".

In late July, FIFA announced plans to create the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a new commercial structure to sell the rights to the World Cup. By privatizing the World Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino had a plan to provide football associations around the world with significant amounts of money.

That plan didn't last even a month, all 55 football associations under the auspices of UEFA voted against it, except for Argentina, and the same was true in South America, North America...

The European federations withdrew their support for Infantino's candidacy for a new term in March 2027, but after abandoning privatization, UEFA also announced that it would not boycott the World Cup and other competitions under the auspices of FIFA.

"We and the Europeans will never see things the same way. If you look at some federations with a budget of 150.000 euros, how can they compete with the great powers," Eto'o wondered, adding:

"Nobody asks how some leaders of African federations manage football in their countries. And if there is a talent drain, the blame is on us. But if Cameroon could count on a budget of 20 or 40 million dollars a year, then, of course, we would have our Mbappe or Choumeni (both players have Cameroonian roots - ed.). We would organize our football better," Eto'o said in an interview with "L'Equipe".

He supported Infantino.

"UEFA should not be considered the main FIFA confederation! We are already selling football. Who finances it? Companies that buy advertising. Who owns these companies? Europe also looks after its own interests, despite pressure from clubs. Why should we be judged if we look after our own interests? And today, President Infantino is giving Africans the opportunity to dream about the development of football. He has contributed to the development of African football," Eto'o believes, adding:

"UEFA is important to FIFA - it makes a huge contribution to the development of football, but it cannot be considered the only or main confederation. And of course, people do not understand the difficulties that the leaders of the African associations are facing. Do you think we could even play football without government help? Some receive 95 to 100% of their funds from governments that are already facing enormous difficulties," Eto'o concluded in an interview with L'Equipe.