Infantino was speaking after visiting the apartheid prison at Robben Island in Cape Town, South Africa, with fellow candidate Tokyo Sexwale, a former inmate.
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Gianni Infantino, the acting head of European football, made the comments in a statement on Monday, five days before the vote that experts say could determine whether FIFA emerges from months of unprecedented scandal to restore its battered reputation. “I’m confident that… maybe I shouldn’t say this next to Tokyo but I think I will have a majority of the African votes”, he said.
This comes despite Shaikh Salman receiving the backing of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football, though their support does not necessarily mean all of its 54 members would tick the box for the AFC President during Friday’s 26 February election in Zurich.
Sexwale has struggled to gain support in his campaign and, when his home African continent snubbed him in favor of Salman, he denied he will withdraw before the election.
The Bahraini royal, who leads the Asian Football Confederation, was quick to endorse Michel Platini for the FIFA presidency last July and had never spoken of ambitions to run the global game.
Several dozen leading football officials have been indicted in the United States and a criminal investigation is also underway in Switzerland, while Fifa president Sepp Blatter has been banned for eight years for ethics violations.
Infantino begun his campaign in Africa in October, travelling to Cairo to meet CAF’s leadership the day after announcing his candidacy, and is ending it on the island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.
Sexwale served as the general secretary of the prisoners’ football association during his time behind bars.
Sexwale, who is seen as a rank outsider in the race, described himself as “a realist’ and “open to alliances”.
“By the end of this week we will know whether Federation Internationale de Football Association has taken a full step towards reform, greater transparency and a new era for the world’s most played and watched sport”.
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The Associated Press reports that Sexwale invited all four other candidates to Cape Town but Salman, Prince Ali of Jordan and Jerome Champagne declined, citing “tight schedules”.
