A political war has erupted between global football's main men, after FIFA President Gianni Infantino attempted to flex his muscles by rushing through a new role to oversee African football.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin accused Infantino of reducing the FIFA Bureau of the Council's purpose to a 'rubber stamp function' after a letter calling for the council's swift approval was sent 'in the middle of the night' and with a deadline deemed 'far too short'.

Sportsmail has seen evidence of the almighty dispute, which centres on Infantino's proposal for a new position to be created to clean up football in Africa.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino (L) is at loggerheads with UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin (R)

Infantino was only re-elected to the most powerful role in world football earlier this month, and this move will be seen as an early power play.

In letters - published on Thursday by MailOnline - to the members of the Bureau of the Council, which is made up of the regional confederation leaders, Infantino laid out his reasons for wanting to appoint a FIFA General Delegate for Africa and why FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura was his proposed candidate.

He wrote: 'In light of the current exceptional situation facing CAF (Confederation of African Football), we are requesting the Bureau of the Council to support the decision to appoint, on a temporary basis, a FIFA General Delegate for Africa, acting under the authority of both CAF and FIFA.

Two of the most powerful men in world football have clashed over the issue at hand

'The aim of this mission is amongst others to lead a team providing the relevant expertise, ensuring that the necessary reforms are implemented within CAF at all levels.

'Tasks will also include reviewing the operational management of CAF, including governance and administrative procedures, ensuring the efficient and professional organization of all CAF competitions and supporting the growth and development of football in all countries and regions of CAF. The proposed FIFA General Delegate for Africa is Fatma Samoura, current FIFA Secretary General.'

Infantino added that the proposal had the support of CAF President Ahmad and that Samoura would continue in her role at FIFA but would 'delegate her functions within the FIFA administration in accordance with the relevant internal regulations'.

Yet, Ceferin opposed the proposal in a strongly-worded response, in which he criticised the deadline given and the lack of an official document confirming CAF's support, raised doubts over whether the proposal 'complies with both FIFA and CAF statutes' and voiced concerns over 'possible conflicts of interest'.

'I understand the CAF's current difficult situation and welcome the efforts undertaken by all parties to improve it,' he wrote.

'However, even with the best will in the world to help CAF, I cannot for the time being approve the detailed proposal set out in your letter.'

Infantino wants general secretary Fatma Samoura to step in to help out with football in Africa

FIFA president Infantino sent his proposed appointment through with a 90-minute deadline

Having outlined the four main issues with Infantino's proposal, he concluded: 'For these various reasons, I am sure you will fully understand that, in the current state of affairs and without additional information from you, I cannot approve the proposal set out in your letter sent to the FIFA Bureau of the Council members to appoint a FIFA General Delegate for Africa.'

On Thursday afternoon, a joint statement was issued by CAF and FIFA to announce that the Bureau of the Council had approved the proposal from Infantino and Ahmad for Samoura to take on the role for the next six months.

The decision came just hours after it was made public that Ceferin had opposed the proposal.

The statement said: 'Ms. Samoura will be assisted by a group of experts who will work in a spirit of partnership with President Ahmad and his team in several areas, which include amongst others: To oversee operational management of CAF, including governance and administrative procedures; To ensure the efficient and professional organisation of all CAF competitions; To support the growth and development of football in all countries and regions of CAF.

'The Bureau of the FIFA Council has approved this exceptional and temporary measure.'

FIFA PRESIDENT GIANNI INFANTINO'S LETTER: To the members of the Bureau of the Council Zurich, 20 June 2019 Appointment of a FIFA General Delegate for Africa Dear members of the Bureau of the Council, Following recent events at CAF, I have been approached by the CAF President in order to provide FIFA's assistance and expertise to help implement and accelerate the ongoing reform process at CAF level. The current situation has been the subject of intensive discussion between the CAF President and myself in past weeks and I am now writing to the Bureau of the Council to inform you of our position and to seek your approval for a proposed course of action. In our opinion, it is vital that FIFA and CAF act together to address the issues that have been identified and that we do so with a real sense of urgency. Given current circumstances, the FIFA Administration has already recommended that a central audit review be conducted of all FIFA Forward Funds allocated to CAF, to ensure that funds have been, and are being, put to proper use and that there is no evidence of wrongdoing or mismanagement. Additionally and in the same spirit, the CAF Executive Committee has agreed to a comprehensive forensic audit of its finances as well as requested a visit of both FIFA's governance and ethics teams in order to assist on ongoing reviews and investigations. In light of the current exceptional situation facing CAF, we are requesting the Bureau of the Council to support the decision to appoint, on a temporary basis, a FIFA General Delegate for Africa, acting under the authority of both CAF and FIFA. The aim of this mission is amongst others to lead a team providing the relevant expertise, ensuring that the necessary reforms are implemented within CAF at all levels. Tasks will also include reviewing the operational management of CAF, including governance and administrative procedures, ensuring the efficient and professional organization of all CAF competitions and supporting the growth and development of football in all countries and regions of CAF. The proposed FIFA General Delegate for Africa is Fatma Samoura, current FIFA Secretary General. During this temporary period, Fatma Samoura would stay Secretary General of FIFA, and will delegate her functions within the FIFA administration in accordance with the relevant internal regulations. Whilst the situation is admittedly unusual and exceptional, we are fully satisfied that there is a legal and political framework for a FIFA-CAF joint decision on this matter. In particular, Article 22(3) of the FIFA Statutes provides that confederations have a number of rights and obligations, including: (a) to comply with and enforce compliance with the Statutes, regulations and decisions of FIFA; (b) to work closely with FIFA in every domain so as to achieve the objectives stipulated in art. 2 and to organize international competitions; (g) to nurture relations and cooperation with FIFA actively and constructively for the good of thegame through consultative meetings and to discuss and resolve any problems relating to the interests of the confederations and FIFA;' Notably, the objectives of FIFA, as referenced in the above Article 22(3)(b), include promoting integrity, ethics and fair play and also eradicating corruption, as well as organizing international competitions and improving the game of football constantly and on a global level. At the same time, the CAF Statutes provide in Article 2(2) and 2(3) as follows: 'CAF is required to comply at all times and unreservedly to the principles of good governance, integrity and sportsmanship; as well as to the Statutes, regulations, decisions and directives of FIFA.' Article 55 of the CAF Statutes ('unforeseen circumstances') states that: 'CAF Executive Committee shall decide any matters not provided for by the current Statutes or cases of force majeure, such decisions shall take immediate effect.' In view of the background set out above, it is logical that these efforts should be carried out in close cooperation with FIFA and, ideally, that a senior FIFA official should be appointed to lead them. Hence the reason for proposing to appoint the most senior official in the FIFA Administration as FIFA General Delegate for Africa. It is, therefore, against this background that I have agreed to this proposal to address the current situation with the CAF President Ahmad. He has obtained the unanimous support of the CAF Executive Committee and we now seek the support of the Bureau of the Council for this appointment. Based on the above, we kindly ask you to approve the following decision by 20 June 2019, 10:30 CET. As previously mentioned, both CAF President and FIFA President fully support the decision: 'To appoint Fatma Samoura as 'FIFA General Delegate for Africa' for a 6-month period from 1 August 2019 to 31 January 2020, renewable with the agreement of CAF and FIFA. During this period, Fatma Samoura will stay Secretary General of FIFA and will delegate her functions within the FIFA administration in accordance with the relevant internal regulations.' Advertisement