FAI withdraws support for FIFA president Infantino

The Football Association of Ireland has withdrawn its support for Gianni Infantino to be re-elected as FIFA president.

Following an FAI board meeting, the decision was taken to rescind the letter of support that the Irish governing body supplied earlier this year.

The FAI has written to FIFA to explain its reasoning.

Infantino has apologised for his proposal to create FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a company to run the commercial and operational aspects of FIFA's tournaments, with an idea to sell off around 20% to private investors.

But he remains under considerable pressure to retain his role.

In a statement, the FAI said they are grateful for the support that FIFA provides to Irish football, "but recent events have raised significant concerns regarding governance, transparency and the lack of meaningful consultation."

They added: "Considering the governance challenges that the FAI has itself faced in recent years, the Association feels a particular obligation to advocate for and uphold best practice."

UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF have called for him to quit over his aborted bid to bring private investment into FIFA competitions.

UEFA has previously threatened a boycott of FIFA competitions and its decision to hold preliminary discussions with AFC and CONCACAF about coordinating their own tournaments is to make sure the players under their jurisdictions have meaningful opportunities to compete.

But Qatar, Lebanon, ⁠Morocco, Sudan, Egypt and Mauritania have backed Infantino today.

Four of the six are also FIFA ‌Council members.

"We deeply appreciate Mr Infantino's sustained efforts to advance football ⁠globally, expand ‌opportunities across all regions and strengthen the game’s role in bringing people and communities together," they said.

"We look forward to continuing our close cooperation with him towards a stronger and more prosperous ⁠future for world football, expanding opportunities and further enhancing Arab football’s contribution to the global ⁠game."

Infantino's positon is up for election in March next year.

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