Full list of nations supporting & opposing Gianni Infantino’s FIFA president bid

Gianni Infantino is under increasing pressure to step down as FIFA president.

Gianni Infantino’s bid for re-election as FIFA president took a massive hit following a now-abandoned plan to privatise the commercial rights of the FIFA World Cup.

Infantino had originally planned to sell 20% of the commercial rights to private investors. The leaked plans drew widespread condemnation from football associations and players around the world, forcing the global football governing body to scrap the proposal.

Infantino came under fire from former players as well as members of his staff. Two senior FIFA officials, including Infantino’s senior advisor Carlos Cordeiro, resigned in opposition to the plans.

FIFA’s director of global football development, Arsene Wenger, also criticised the plans, saying that its abandonment was “absolutely necessary and beyond question”.

Infantino was forced to issue an apology regarding the botched privatisation plans. However, that has done very little to reduce the amount of criticism levelled at him.

Almost all the continental and national football federations have declared their stance on whether they want to support Infantino’s bid for re-election. While UEFA and its member nations have been the most vocal opposition to the Swiss administrator, most African and Asian nations have thrown their weight behind the under-fire chief.

Let’s look at all the associations and nations that have declared their stance regarding Gianni Infantino’s future.

Also Read: Gianni Infantino apologises for FIFA World Cup privatisation bid; wins officials’ backing

Supporting Infantino	Opposing Infantino
Qatar	Germany
UAE	England
Morocco	Wales
Egypt	Norway
Sri Lanka	Serbia
DR Congo	Sweden
Djibouti	Greece
Lebanon	Albania
Indonesia	Finland
Philippines	Netherlands
Kuwait	Denmark
Gambia	Croatia
Mexico	Romania
Argentina	Jordan
Paraguay	Sierra Leone
Bhutan	Canada
Bangladesh

Nations opposing Gianni Infantino

UEFA were the first continental body to come out in strong opposition to Infantino’s plans to privatise the FIFA World Cup. The federation announced that all of its 55 member associations will boycott all FIFA competitions if the privatisation plans are not abandoned.

Several associations, including those of England and Wales, withdrew the letters of recognition that they had provided for Infantino’s campaign. Finland was the first nation to do this, and they were followed by Serbia, Sweden, and others.

CONCACAF also expressed their strong opposition to Infantino’s plans, with the body’s president, Victor Montagliani, tipped to challenge the Swiss administrator to become the next FIFA chief. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called on Infantino to step down.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) also rejected FIFA’s privatisation proposal, although, at the moment, only Jordan have publicly opposed Infantino’s re-election bid.

Nations supporting Gianni Infantino

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) became the first footballing body to publicly throw their weight behind Infantino, saying that their 54 member associations “are committed to continue working together with FIFA”. However, Sierra Leone FA president Isha Johansen claimed that this support is not unanimous, although Egypt, Morocco, and others have backed Infantino.

Argentina are the first South American nation to back Infantino, contrary to CONMEBOL’s public expression of concern about the governing body’s approach. Paraguay followed suit, writing a letter of support for Infantino. Mexico also went against CONCACAF’s statements in declaring their support for the FIFA president.

Most of the Asian nations have supported Infantino, including nations like Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, and more.

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