England’s Football Association is preparing to withdraw its support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s re-election bid, a person familiar with the matter said Monday, as opposition to his failed plan to sell a stake in the World Cup continued to build.
The FA plans to write to FIFA confirming it no longer backs Infantino for a fourth term after previously offering its endorsement, according to reports. The move follows a similar announcement from the Football Association of Wales, which formally dropped its support Monday morning.
FIFA’s plan would have raised up to 4.2 billion dollars by selling roughly a 20 percent stake in a new entity overseeing competitions including the World Cup. Infantino abandoned the proposal Friday after fierce resistance from federations and regional confederations.
What We Know So Far
The Welsh FA said in a statement that it was withdrawing its backing for Infantino’s candidacy for the 2027 to 2031 term. The federation cited recent failures in governance, leadership, stakeholder management and judgment, saying Infantino had lost its confidence to remain in charge of world football.
Accounts differ on which federation moved first. Reports citing Reuters described Wales as the first national federation to formally withdraw its support, while other reporting said the Football Association of Finland withdrew its backing the previous week, making it the first to do so. That discrepancy had not been resolved as of Monday.
Reports indicate that federations across UEFA had been preparing a broader wave of withdrawal letters, with all but five of Europe’s 55 member associations having previously expressed support for Infantino before the investment plan became public. The FA has said it does not plan to publicize its own withdrawal letter, reflecting a view shared elsewhere in Europe that pressure on Infantino needs to build across multiple continents rather than appear concentrated in Europe alone.
Infantino announced in April that he intended to seek a fourth term as FIFA president. He has been reelected unopposed twice since succeeding Sepp Blatter in 2016. His path to a further term before FIFA’s Congress in Morocco in March had appeared secure until the fallout from the failed investment plan exposed broader dissatisfaction among member federations.
UEFA and CONCACAF said Saturday they had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership. UEFA has not confirmed reports that it is preparing legal action against FIFA, though the confederation said it issued an order to preserve documents, including emails and files, that would typically precede a formal investigation.
What Authorities Are Saying
The Welsh FA said in its statement that failing to put football’s best interests first was a failure the federation could not accept.
England’s FA had previously called for a full and independent review of FIFA’s leadership and governance, a position that has hardened into direct withdrawal of support for Infantino’s re-election.
Laura McAllister, a UEFA vice president and former Wales international, pushed for a Europe led boycott of FIFA competitions during a meeting of member associations last week if Infantino did not abandon the investment plan, a push that contributed to the collective opposition that ultimately made the proposal untenable.
Why This Matters
The FA’s expected move marks a significant escalation given England’s stature within European soccer and its role hosting future FIFA events, including an extraordinary FIFA congress expected to confirm the United Kingdom’s hosting of the 2035 Women’s World Cup in November, an event Infantino would preside over if he remains in position.
Analysts have said Infantino’s path forward will likely depend less on Europe, where opposition has been building steadily, than on how federations in Asia and North and Central America respond. Opinion within the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF has so far been more divided than in Europe, meaning the degree of leadership shown by federations on those continents could prove decisive in determining whether Infantino faces a genuine contest for reelection.
The episode also highlights how quickly a previously secure incumbency can unravel. Infantino’s re-election for the 2027 to 2031 term had been treated as a formality only weeks earlier, before the scale of opposition to the private investment plan became clear.
What Happens Next
FIFA’s Congress in Morocco in March will determine whether Infantino secures a fourth term, and the coming months are expected to bring further public and private pressure from federations weighing whether to follow England and Wales in withdrawing support. UEFA’s ongoing document preservation order suggests further scrutiny of the collapsed investment plan may continue regardless of the outcome of the presidential race.
Whether opposition spreads meaningfully beyond Europe remains the central question shaping Infantino’s political survival, with federations in Asia and North and Central America yet to signal a unified position.
Reporting drawn from Channel News Asia, Reuters and The Guardian, citing statements from the Football Association of Wales, England’s Football Association and UEFA.
