European football chief tells FIFA’s Infantino to ‘remember he is a European’ after $40 million funding offer drew backing from major African powers

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is facing a widening rift with European football authorities after his now-abandoned plan to offer member associations access to as much as $40 million in funding drew backing from several major African football powers.

The dispute has exposed competing interests over how FIFA distributes its growing commercial revenues, with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin telling Infantino to “remember he is a European”, according to the BBC, as African football leaders rallied behind the FIFA chief.

Africa is central to the row because its 54 national associations make up more than a quarter of FIFA’s 211 voting members and many rely heavily on FIFA development funding.

Football leaders from Morocco, Egypt, Niger, Mauritania and DR Congo publicly supported Infantino as pressure mounted over the abandoned commercial plan, while Sudan later joined Morocco, Egypt and Mauritania in a separate statement of support.

FIFA offered federations up to $40 million