Gianni Infantino’s bid to remain FIFA president has received a timely lift, with four Asian football nations publicly reaffirming their support after the controversial proposal to sell part of the World Cup was scrapped.
The climbdown came after UEFA joined forces with CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation to pressure Infantino into abandoning plans to offload a £3.1billion stake in the World Cup to private investors.
UEFA and CONCACAF have since gone further by urging the Swiss administrator to step down. However, that push has run into resistance after Kuwait, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Lebanon all restated confidence in Infantino’s leadership.
Infantino is also understood to retain backing across Africa, while South America is expected to adopt a similar stance, meaning support from AFC members would be crucial to any serious effort to remove him. Morocco, a co-host of the next World Cup, has also issued a statement.
New Zealand may yet align itself with the opposition led by Europe and CONCACAF, although there is little certainty that the other 10 members of the Oceania Football Confederation would take the same position.
For its part, the AFC welcomed the decision to drop the private equity plan but stopped short of openly challenging FIFA’s current leadership.
Gianni Infantino’s proposed £3.1billion World Cup stake sale has been firmly rejected
Infantino remains under pressure after calls from UEFA and CONCACAF to resign, but Asian support may strengthen his position
The subsequent championing by Kuwait, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Lebanon reinforced the impression that Infantino retains significant backing across Asia.
The other 40 AFC member associations have yet to comment publicly, suggesting they support the association’s statement, which does not challenge his presidency.
Australia, also an AFC member, welcomed the decision to scrap the investment plan and said: ‘Attention must now turn to the future.’
While UEFA and CONCACAF have enough support to force a vote of no confidence, they do not currently have the numbers to remove Infantino.
Public opposition stands at 43 per cent of FIFA’s membership, below the majority required to unseat him.
That said, the undeclared associations will not necessarily vote in a block with their confederations.
If 16 nations were to break ranks and join the opposition, Infantino’s presidency would be in a perilous position.
On Saturday, AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa said: ‘I am proud that all our member associations stood united and entrusted the AFC with seeking answers on their behalf regarding this crucial issue concerning the future of global football governance.
‘I thank them for their patience, solidarity, and unity, and I assure them that the AFC will always act in their best interests.
‘The future of global football must always be shaped through sound consultation, collective dialogue, and respect for the established governance structures of our game.’
UEFA, however, took a more direct position: ‘UEFA welcomes FIFA’s decision to withdraw its plan to sell a stake in its competitions – including the World Cup – into private hands.
‘The proposal was unanimously rejected by UEFA’s national associations and by many other federations and confederations of all sizes around the world, whose job it is to protect football.
‘We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast-track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game. We must identify those responsible and hold them to account.
‘It is right that, in the coming days and weeks, UEFA will work with its associations and in close cooperation with other confederations to reflect on how this happened and devise a plan to make sure that it cannot occur again.
‘That review should be thorough and fundamental. No option should be off the table. The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family.
‘The shabby, back-room, opaque deal he hatched and tried to force through was anything but transparent. This is a victory for the whole game. But it must not be the end of the story. The proposal has gone. The task of rebuilding trust in FIFA has only just begun.’
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has led the charge against Infantino this week
Infantino, a Lebanese citizen, has been backed by Kuwait, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Lebanon since scrapping the plans
Countless European nations, including England, Wales, the Netherlands and Norway, endorsed the statement.
A spokeswoman for the English FA added: ‘We fully support UEFA’s position. It is time for a full and robust review of FIFA’s leadership and governance to ensure that the global game is run transparently, for the benefit of all 211 member nations and with the long-term stewardship of football at its heart.’
CONCACAF, as they have all week, followed suit: ‘CONCACAF and its 41 Member Associations welcome the withdrawal of the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
‘The Confederation also commends its 41 Member Associations and the wider football family for the courage and unity they have shown this week.
‘At a moment that demanded principled leadership, our members stood together in defence of football’s long-term interests and the principles of good governance. That unity has prevailed.
‘A proposal of this magnitude does not reach that stage by accident. It is a symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first.
‘This recent unilateral and egregious act of poor governance and leadership follows a pattern of missteps and similar behaviour. A full review of this leadership must now take place.
‘This concern is not CONCACAF’s alone. It is shared across many confederations, Member Associations and those who serve and love the game.
‘When people entrusted with protecting the game conclude they can no longer do so from within, the football family is entitled to ask how such a proposal was allowed to proceed, and who bears responsibility for it.’
