Infantino faces fresh re-election blow as England, Wales withdraw support

FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s bid for another term in office has suffered a fresh setback after England’s Football Association (FA) joined Wales in withdrawing support for his re-election.

The move comes amid growing criticism of Infantino’s leadership following FIFA’s decision to abandon plans to sell a stake in the commercial rights of the FIFA World Cup and other major competitions.

A source familiar with the development told Reuters on Monday that England’s FA would no longer back Infantino’s candidacy for the 2027–2031 presidential term.

The proposed investment deal, which sought to raise up to $4.2 billion by selling about 20 per cent of a newly created commercial entity to private investors, was dropped on Friday after fierce opposition from football stakeholders.

The failed initiative has intensified scrutiny of Infantino’s leadership and cast uncertainty over his plans to secure a fourth term as FIFA president.

The Football Association of Wales had earlier become the first national football body to formally withdraw its endorsement of Infantino.

The Welsh FA, in a statement, cited concerns over governance, leadership, decision-making, stakeholder engagement and communication, saying the FIFA chief had lost its confidence.

“The recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communications and sound judgement have led us to a position where Mr. Infantino has lost the confidence of the FAW to remain at the helm of world football,” the association said.

FIFA scraps private investment plan after backlash

It added that FIFA’s leadership had failed to put the interests of football first.

The backlash widened over the weekend after UEFA and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) also declared that they no longer had confidence in Infantino’s leadership.

While UEFA stopped short of confirming reports that it was preparing legal action against FIFA, it disclosed that it had issued a document preservation order to ensure relevant emails, files and records are retained in anticipation of possible investigations.

Infantino, who succeeded Sepp Blatter as FIFA president in 2016, announced in April that he would seek another four-year term. He has previously been re-elected unopposed twice.