Gianni Infantino, a candidate for the position of FIFA president, visited South Sudan’s capital Juba on Saturday and managed to secure the support of the South Sudan Football Association in his bid to become head of the global football society.
South Sudan’s support for the Swiss-Italian candidate defies the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which voted to back the other leading contender, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa of Bahrain. The 54 African federations will vote separately in the election in Zurich on 26 February.
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.
At a press conference in Juba, Gianni said if he becomes president of FIFA, he will aim to put two additional African teams in the FIFA World Cup, and he will increase from 4 to 7 African members including at least one woman on the FIFA’s Executive Committee.
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.