English and Welsh football associations withdraw support for Gianni Infantino

The English and Welsh football associations have formally withdrawn their support for Gianni Infantino as the pressure continues to mount on the Fifa president.

The withdrawal of support for Infantino’s re-election bid comes after his bungled effort to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

Infantino announced last week he was shelving the widely denounced plan that was rejected by three confederations but his decade-long reign at the head of Fifa remains under intense scrutiny.

The Swiss head of Fifa is due to stand for re-election in March next year.

Prior to the furore over the proposal, the FA and the Football Association of Wales (FAW) had written letters of support for Infantino standing for election at next year’s Fifa congress.

The FA is understood to be writing to Fifa making it clear Infantino no longer has its support, while the FAW confirmed it had also turned against Infantino, and was the first country to withdraw support.

A FAW statement said: “The Football Association of Wales hereby confirms its withdrawal of support for the candidature of Mr Gianni Infantino, for re-election as Fifa president for the 2027–2031 term.

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

“Failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept.”

European countries are planning to increase the pressure on Infantino with a mass withdrawal of letters supporting his re-election as Fifa president.

Infantino’s reign is in severe peril after the collapse of his privately backed scheme to sell off chunks of the World Cup, which was largely scuppered when Uefa member associations threatened to boycott future Fifa competitions.

The mood remains febrile and there is a widespread appetite around Europe to ensure that he is quickly removed from his post.

Now a groundswell of national governing bodies are discussing the formal withdrawal of their support for Infantino in a bid to hasten his resignation, with announcements likely in the coming days. Before last week’s crisis unfolded all of Uefa’s 55 members apart from Germany, Romania and Norway had written letters to endorse Infantino’s candidature next March, with a fourth term for the Swiss viewed as a fait accompli.

A simultaneous withdrawal has been mooted but there is also the possibility member associations could remove their backing one by one. Doing so would effectively amount to a vote of no confidence and increase the pressure on Infantino to resign. Fifa must be notified by any country wishing to recall their letter.

Uefa had warned Gianni Infantino that his style of leadership cannot continue in demanding a thorough and fundamental review of Fifa’s governance.

In a strongly worded statement that referred to “secret schemes”, “shabby backroom deals” and “faceless individuals”, Uefa’s leadership made clear it wants change at the top of Fifa, despite the world governing body’s U-turn in abandoning Infantino’s plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup and other competitions.

While stopping short of calling for Infantino to resign, Uefa’s leadership is understood to be determined that he should not be permitted to survive a crisis of his own making, a view that is shared by many of the biggest football governing bodies across the world.

Leading European officials are already understood to have begun the process of identifying a candidate to stand against Infantino in next year’s Fifa presidential election, which will continue over the next few days. – PA, Guardian

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