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Story audio is generated using AI “For us in Africa, adherence to governance, due process and transparency is crucial and non-negotiable,” the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe said in a statement released by the organisation on Thursday. “The Caf exco also unanimously reconfirmed its support for Fifa president Gianni Infantino and thanked him for his support for African Football, over the years,” the statement added. I wonder what Omar Artan thought of that. What did he think of the non-negotiable adherence to good-governance, due process and transparency that Motsepe outlined? Were those elements there when Infantino dropped to his knees and said ‘yes, baas’ to US President Donald Trump when his government blocked the Somalian referee from entering the country to officiate in the Fifa World Cup? Was Infantino being transparent when he reportedly privately sought a deal to sell off 20% of a World Cup operating company to the brother of Trump’s son-in-law? Loyal to Africa? According to Motsepe, Infantino has been “loyal to Africa.” How exactly? Was it loyalty to Africa that led to Infantino’s expanded Club World Cup, forcing last year’s African Cup of Nations (Afcon) to move to a different date in the calendar? Was it “loyal to Africa” that what was once the biennial Afcon tournament is now set to be a quadrennial event? Is Infantino’s supposed loyalty towards Africa good for Africa or good for Infantino? Was Infantino being transparent when he reportedly privately sought a deal to sell off 20% of a World Cup operating company to the brother of Trump’s son-in-law? The way in which Artan was so brutally and embarrassingly denied the opportunity for which he’d worked while Infantino just watched on, would suggest it’s the latter. It is also quite clear from in-depth reporting in various international publications that the deal to sell off the World Cup to a venture capitalist, adjacent to the US president, was not done transparently and due process not followed. But on Thursday we had Motsepe, two weeks after his “loyal to Africa” nonsense, being a happy puppet for Infantino. No one is suggesting Caf fall in lock step behind Uefa, who want Infantino out as Fifa boss. The wariness towards the European football leadership is understandable given how largely dismissive it’s been of Africa in the past. Africa’s voting block It’s probably worth noting that Infantino worked for Uefa for 15 years and in that period didn’t appear to make any decision that indicated any loyalty to Africa. That only came when Infantino needed Africa’s voting block to help him ascend to the Fifa presidency. At some point Caf, Motsepe and Africa have to stand up for themselves and show an ability to think for themselves. There’s nothing wrong in supporting an independent inquiry into Infantino’s attempt to sell off part of the World Cup in secret. Nor to interrogate various other decisions taken around the last World Cup — including those hydration breaks, which fundamentally broke the rules of the sport. Africa would do well to reflect on the example of the Palestinian Football Association’s president, Jibril Rajoub. In May this year,at the Fifa congress in Vancouver, Infantino tried one of those cringy photo ops he’s so fond of, by getting Rajoub to shake hands and then stand shoulder to shoulder with an official of the Israeli football authorities. As if the killing of tens of thousands of babies, women and innocents in Gaza and the West Bank could be summarily washed away with a photo. Rajoub made a very public demonstration of refusing the superficial absurdity Infantino was attempting. At what point does CAF show similar backbone? From Artam, to supporters and journalists from Africa who were denied entry into the US to follow the World Cup, the treatment of the Iranian team and then this attempt to pocket billions out of the World Cup, all under a cloak of secrecy, make clear that Infantino’s loyalty is to Infantino. Africa doesn’t need to fall in line at every turn. There was an opportunity for Caf to show it could actually be a leader in football, that it can think for itself and it truly cares about good governance, due process and transparency. But Motsepe and Co have missed that chance.