One week after FIFA president Gianni Infantino decided to abort his plan to privatize part of the World Cup rights amid a flood of criticism against the project, the football leadership board remains just as unsettled. If Infantino intended to calm everything with his reversal, he has not succeeded. The expert leader is not alone despite the deafening noise generated around him, but he has lost much support. The federative chancelleries have split and different positions remain with the horizon of the FIFA presidential elections, scheduled for next March. There are federations openly critical of Infantino, those that explicitly support him, and those that remain silent or hold more lukewarm positions one way or the other. What follows is a kind of world map around the FIFA crisis.
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“We ask the FIFA president to resign now,” says the president of the Norwegian Federation
The most critical. UEFA has taken command of the opposition operations against Infantino. Its president, Aleksander Ceferin, smells blood around his great rival and has arrogated the role of defender of football. Its 55 federations have voted en bloc against the FIFA leader and maintain the boycott of the World Cups despite the withdrawal of the privatization plan. However, within UEFA there are more belligerent federations and less so. Among the former, without question, are the English, German, Norwegian, Serbian, and Swedish federations, which have openly called for changes at the head of FIFA, basically for Infantino to leave. “There is no turning back for Gianni Infantino. International football is very divided and we must take the opportunity to unite. We ask the FIFA president to resign now,” said the president of the Norwegian Federation, Lisa Klaveness, at a press conference. Others have limited themselves to showing their opposition to Infantino’s now-defunct plan and to supporting the boycott. Then there are federations like the Spanish one that have preferred not to speak publicly, considering that the 2030 World Cup will be partly held in Spain and with the final venue yet to be designated. Outside Europe, the most belligerent confederation is Concacaf (North and Central America), although without UEFA’s unanimity. The United States federation, despite Infantino’s relations with Trump, initially rejected the FIFA president’s plans. Meanwhile, in the Asian Confederation, there is division between supporters and detractors of Infantino.
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Argentina is the only football powerhouse openly in favor of Infantino
The defenders. The FIFA president keeps the support of the African Confederation, which holds 54 votes, well guarded. Morocco, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are among those openly campaigning for Infantino. The president of the Congolese federation was a university classmate in Switzerland of the FIFA president. Beyond the rising Moroccan football, there is only one true powerhouse backing the FIFA president. That is the AFA. The Argentine Federation issued a statement yesterday saying that Infantino’s government should continue “for its transparency.” “We address you, dear President, and through you the FIFA board, to express our support for the management carried out over the last 10 years,” wrote the AFA. Within Conmebol (the South American Confederation), Paraguay and Uruguay are aligned with Argentina. As always, there are interests involved. If the World Cup were expanded to 64 teams for 2030, it is not ruled out that the three countries would act as hosts for the entire group stage. And in recent hours Infantino has also found support from Mexico (Concacaf). The FIFA president has left Morocco, where he stayed for a week, and landed in Cali (Colombia) to attend the inauguration of the country’s elected president, Abelardo de la Espriella, according to the Colombian Federation, which implies support for Infantino. Politics.
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