SOCCER: Cameroon FA chief Eto'o backs FIFA president Infantino

Cameroon's all-time top scorer Samuel Eto'o, president of the country's soccer federation, has defended FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, saying opposition to the Swiss-Italian was related to the timing of next year's elections in the global body.

Infantino, up for re-election in March 2027, has been criticised since tabling a now abandoned proposal to sell off a 20% stake in a commercial body for FIFA tournament rights, with several countries withdrawing their support for his candidacy.

"I think all these things are happening because of the timing. There's an election coming up where Gianni Infantino is standing. All of this has happened because there's an election coming up. That's all there is," Eto'o told CNN in an interview broadcast on Monday.

While several regional soccer bodies, including UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF, are weighing whether to move a vote of no confidence to oust Infantino, African body CAF has backed him.

CAF president Patrice Motsepe said earlier this month that Infantino's future should be decided at the 2027 election, and confirmed that the president still has the support of CAF.

Former striker Eto'o, who played for major European clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea, said Infantino had changed football, giving opportunities to nations that did not have them before.

"The president's job is to take football further, to make all of the nations grow," he said.

"He made a proposal. The 211 members were supposed to sit down, debate the issue and let the majority win. But I am convinced that the voices that were raised, those are not the voices of the majority."

-Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris/Reuters