FIFA’s Infantino eyes African league, billion dollar spend on stadia
by AFP
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday he would like to see an African league created and investment of more than $1 billion (900 million euros) on stadia on the continent.
“We have to take the 20 best African clubs and put them in an Africa league,” Infantino said during a visit to DR Congo to celebrate the 80th birthday of club TP Mazembe.
“Such a league could make at least 200 million in revenue, which would put it among the top 10 in the world,” he added.
Infantino added he planned to launch an appeal “to collect a billion dollars before being able to give every African country a real football stadium up to FIFA standards.”
The 49-year-old who took over as head of world football’s governing body in February 2016 said his ideas were to help the sport in the continent compete on a global level.
“We’ll take the best African referees and pay them. We will depoliticise it and professionalise African refereeing,” he said.
“I want to take African football to the top of the world,” he added.