What happens next for Infantino and FIFA?
FIFA President Gianni Infantino is under pressure after the failure of his plan to create a commercial subsidiary for the World Cup. But will he
FIFA President Gianni Infantino is under pressure after the failure of his plan to create a commercial subsidiary for the World Cup. But will he be ousted? And what is needed for that to happen? Will any games be impacted by Infantino's failed venture? Now that Gianno Infantino has shelved his plans to create a commercial subsidiary for the World Cup and other FIFA events, UEFA's boycott of FIFA events is over and so matches now appear less in danger. Nevertheless, the European governing body says it is now "rebuilding trust" with FIFA and the story continues to develop rapidly. As a result, increased focus will be put on women's football when the U20 World Cup starts on September 5 in Poland, and when the U17 World Cup in Morocco starts in October. There are also matches around the world that will decide the qualifiers for next summer's World Cup in Brazil in the same month. Despite there being scant mention in FIFA's subsidiary proposal of the women's game, it will be the first test of life after it. While a boycott is now off the table, the games will be harder to navigate given the current chaos around the sport's governing body. This is far from ideal for the teams competing, particularly given the importance of the 2027 World Cup. FIFA revolt: Can Infantino's Trump connection save him? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Which football associations have pulled their support of Infantino?
With UEFA, Europe's football governors, offering a united front, it is assumed that most, if not all, football associations on the continent will withdraw their support in the coming days. The first nation to publicly drop their support for Gianni Infantino was Finland last week. Wales followed on Monday, saying in a statement that "failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept" before England followed suit later in the day. Germany's FA (DFB) is the biggest sports association in the world, but has yet to officially withdraw its support. It is expected to though, especially when considering the recent words of DFB Director Andreas Rettig. The 63-year-old recently told "Stern" magazine in an interview that Infantino's recent actions have led to "an irreparable loss of trust" and that football needs to "hit the reset button. We need a different culture. Because trust is the hardest currency." "From my perspective, Mr. Infantino has invested a great deal of time, money, and energy into maintaining his power structure. Clearly, many decisions served primarily to consolidate his own position," added Retting. When is the FIFA presidential election? The election is on March 18, 2027, at the 77th FIFA Congress in Rabat, Morocco. Infantino will run for re-election as president for a final four-year term, looking to gain 106 votes from FIFA's 211 member states (Uefa has 55 votes, Africa 54, Asia 46, Concacaf 35, Oceania 11 and Conmebol 10) to win. Each state gets a vote and voting is done in a secret ballot, which takes time.
The BriefWire