Under fire FIFA president Gianni Infantino found six allies willing to say his name out loud this week. Everywhere else, the list of people saying it critically kept growing.
The heads of six Arab soccer federations—2030 World Cup co-host Morocco, along with Qatar, Egypt, Mauritania, Lebanon, and Sudan— issued a joint statement Thursday expressing their full support for Infantino and reaffirming confidence in his leadership as he fights to hold onto the FIFA presidency following the collapse of his World Cup private investment plan.
Infantino Gets Support From Council Members
Notably, four of the six signatories sit on the FIFA council itself: Qatar Football Association president Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abo Rida, Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa, and Mauritanian Football Federation president Ahmed Yahya. The remaining two were Lebanese Football Association president Hashem Haidar and Sudan Football Association president Moatasem Gafar.
Their statement leaned heavily on continuity and gratitude, describing “full support for Mr. Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA,” and reaffirming “confidence in his leadership and continued commitment to the development of football worldwide.” It went further still, expressing appreciation for what it called his sustained efforts to expand opportunities across regions and strengthen football’s role in bringing communities together, and said the signatories were looking forward to continued close cooperation toward a stronger future for the global game.
That backing lands at a moment when Infantino badly needs it. He withdrew his $20 billion proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors after a furious backlash from soccer officials worldwide, led by UEFA, which has threatened to boycott all FIFA competitions and events over the plan. UEFA didn’t act alone, either—it joined forces with CONCACAF and the AFC to issue a joint open letter Monday describing Infantino’s plan as a “fundamental breach of trust” and, more bluntly, as “deception.”
The Cracks Keep Spreading
The fallout has moved well beyond confederation-level statements. The Football Association of Ireland announced Thursday that it had withdrawn its support for Infantino’s expected re-election as FIFA president in March, citing what it called significant concerns over governance, transparency, and a lack of meaningful consultation. England and Wales’s federations made the same move a week earlier, while Northern Ireland confirmed it was backing UEFA’s broader stance on the matter.
The Arab statement also exposes a genuine split within Asian football specifically. By backing Infantino, Qatar and Lebanon effectively positioned themselves against the AFC, the very confederation they belong to, which had co-signed Monday’s letter accusing Infantino of deception. It isn’t the first sign of that kind of alignment, either—Infantino’s own official Instagram account has previously shared letters of support from federations including Morocco, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Recently as well, the Philippine Football Federation expressed support for the embattled FIFA president, firmly siding with him and his scrapped plan, too.
Infantino has held the FIFA presidency since 2016 and, until recently, looked all but certain to be re-elected unopposed next year in Morocco. That certainty now looks considerably less certain than it did a few weeks ago.
