The Confederation of African Football (CAF) showed weakness in its endorsement of embattled FIFA President Gianni Infantino, following scrutiny of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (“FFE”).

The FIFA Forward Enterprise (“FFE”), proposed by FIFA, has been rejected by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).

In a letter, FIFA acknowledged that mistakes were made in the process of the proposal. Apologising, it said it wasn’t its intention to make the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations feel excluded from the process.

Shortly after FIFA’s apology, CAF, under the leadership of Dr Patrice Motsepe, endorsed the letter and reiterated its commitment to adhering to global governance, transparency and auditing best practices.

Motsepe said, “For us in Africa, adherence to governance, due process and transparency is crucial and non-negotiable, as this is the practice and conduct we expect from our governments, business and other institutions and organisations. This is also the conduct that is expected from CAF. We are committed to continue working together with FIFA, its Member Associations, other Football Confederations and stakeholders to safeguard and adhere to governance, due process, and transparency global best practises and to contribute to the development and growth of Football worldwide.”

However, the response from UEFA, AFC, and CONCACAF has shown that CAF took a hasty decision in endorsing the letter, thereby shedding light on the kind of reasoning behind African football.

While CAF accepted FIFA’s letter without asking questions, UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF stated that the letter treats the situation as a failure of communication, when what football witnessed was a failure of judgment.

“A proposal advanced on a compressed timeline, without meaningful consultation, and pushed toward a deadline before Member Associations could properly review its terms is not the product of an oversight — it is the product of a design intended to limit scrutiny,” they said.

“It did not acknowledge that the proposal itself was inherently wrong. There remains no recognition that attempting to sell an interest in the FIFA World Cup was a profound failure of judgment — not just a procedural misstep, but a fundamental breach of trust with the very institutions FIFA exists to serve.”

They lamented that FIFA has also committed to presenting a full report on these events to the FIFA Council, while failing to recognise that proper governance in the face of such a profound lack of judgment would require that such a review be conducted by a fully independent third party, not by FIFA itself, its staff, or by any stakeholder within football. “The FIFA administration should play no role in conducting the review,” they said.

“As per previous correspondence, all relevant documents and records must be preserved in accordance with UEFA’s communication on preservation of documents.

“FIFA’s own letter also confirms that only one elected official was present at the leadership meeting in Morocco. No FIFA Council members or Member Associations were invited to participate. Only the management committee, composed of FIFA-employed senior staff, was present.

“This recent meeting, where a select number of members of the FIFA Management Committee—not the full Committee—were summoned abroad, rather than leadership going to Zurich to address the heart of FIFA, its staff, only reinforces these concerns and represents a continuation of the very pattern of conduct that brought us to this moment. It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him.

“There is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness.

“These are not the qualities football deserves in its leadership. That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve.

“Football’s strength has always been its unity. We call for that unity to be honoured now, for leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it,” the organisations said.