World Cup winners Fabio Cannavaro and Cafu have joined a group of former footballers backing FIFA President Gianni Infantino, despite his aborted plan to open the World Cup to private investment.
Their social media messages expressing support for Infantino came after another group of former players, led by Frenchman Mikael Silvestre, called for “change” in FIFA’s leadership.
Infantino’s now-scrapped plan had thrust FIFA — and football — into crisis, with many leading figures in the game calling on the Swiss leader to step down.
“Over the last ten years, world football has improved,” and footballers “have once again taken center stage,” Cannavaro — who was part of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning team, posted on social media on Wednesday.
“Infantino has done a great job… Not acknowledging that would be intellectually dishonest,” added the former center-back, who currently coaches the Uzbekistan national team.
Similar messages were posted on Tuesday night by Brazilians Cafu and Roberto Carlos, Argentines Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso, Colombia’s Ivan Ramiro Cordoba and Mexico’s Jared Borgetti.
“We have followed the work of FIFA and president Infantino to promote the representation of players in football, something that didn’t exist before,” wrote Cafu, who lifted the World Cup with Brazil in 1994 and 2002.
On Monday, the group of former players led by Silvestre released a letter warning that “power has clouded the current leadership’s ability to distinguish between their own interests and what is truly best for football.”
Despite calls for his resignation, Infantino remains determined to run in FIFA’s next presidential election in March 2027.
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