Which nations and federations are supporting embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino? Who is opposing him amid failed World Cup investment plan?
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Updated 07/08/2026 at 19:24 GMT+1
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World football’s governing body FIFA is in turmoil after an aborted investment plan left president Gianni Infantino facing calls for his resignation and European nations threatening to boycott the World Cup. Who has publicly spoken out for or against the embattled FIFA leader?
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The football world exploded last week when a sensational report revealed Infantino’s plans to sell off stakes in a new €20 billion (£17.2bn) entity called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which would control major tournaments like the World Cup, to private investors.
Infantino withdrew the proposals after a fierce backlash that included European governing body UEFA threatening to boycott future World Cups.
Calls soon followed for Infantino to step down from his role, but he received the backing of his organisation on Wednesday following a meeting of the FIFA management board in the Moroccan capital of Rabat.
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Infantino is up for re-election in March 2027 as he seeks a fourth term in the sport’s most powerful office, where he will require a majority of 106 votes from FIFA’s 211 member associations to retain his position.
With pressure mounting on the embattled FIFA boss, which federations and nations have come out in support and opposition of him?
Who are Infantino’s opponents?
Infantino’s fiercest and most vocal critics have come from Europe, where governing body UEFA and its 55 member associations unanimously voted to boycott the World Cup if plans went ahead for what it described as a ”shabby, back room, opaque deal.”
UEFA subsequently issued a statement saying it had ”lost confidence” in Infantino’s leadership and on Thursday reiterated its stance on potentially boycotting the World Cup by saying ”conditions have not been met” despite the plans being binned.
On top of that, the Welsh and English Football Associations are among those to come out separately to withdraw their support for Infantino, along with Albania and Croatia.
They were followed by a strong statement from Norwegian Football Federation president Lisa Klaveness on Friday.
"He [Infantino] does not have the institutional trust required to govern FIFA stably in the times we are in," she said.
"There is no going back for Gianni Infantino. The international football cooperation is very much in trouble, and we must have a reason to get together now, and we want to ask the FIFA president to resign now."
The Europeans are not alone. CONCACAF, the governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, said its 41 members rejected Infantino’s proposal when it emerged, before calling for a ”full review” of FIFA’s leadership.
- 'Conditions have not been met’ - UEFA maintains FIFA boycott
- Figo blasts 'deceitful' Infantino and calls for FIFA president to resign
”This recent unilateral and egregious act of poor governance and leadership follows a pattern of missteps and similar behaviour. A full review of this leadership must now take place," a Concacaf statement read, without explicitly naming Infantino.
A further blow for Infantino arrived when the Asian Football Confederation said it ”stood in solidarity with UEFA and CONCACAF” against the FFE plans and called for an ”urgent review” of FIFA’s governance.
"While the immediate debate centres on FFE, the AFC considers this issue extends far beyond a single proposal. Rather, it has exposed fundamental weaknesses in FIFA's consultation and decision-making processes that must now be addressed,” the AFC said.
Who are Infantino’s supporters?
Although the AFC spoke out against FFE, the first public backer of Infantino was one of its members, 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, who said they ”fully support president Infantino's efforts to continue growing and strengthening the game globally."
Indonesia and the Philippines have also declared their support for the Swiss. And on Thursday, 2026 co-hosts Mexico broke ranks from CONCACAF by backing Infantino’s presidency.
"The FMF [Mexican FA] supports president Infantino's leadership in continuing to promote the development of football through institutional strengthening," a statement read.
South American governing body CONMEBOL expressed ”concern about the repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue or the institutional mechanisms provided for dealing with this type of situation,” but said it would reject efforts to remove Infantino without an election.
”The deadline for submitting nominations for the FIFA Presidency is November 18, 2026, and subsequently, the FIFA Congress will elect, through the vote of its 211 Member Associations, the person who will be responsible for leading the organisation during the next period, including the organisation of the FIFA Centenary World Cup 2030,” said a statement.
”Consequently, CONMEBOL will not support any action or procedure that ignores or deviates from these institutional mechanisms.”
Argentina, champions in 2022 and runners-up in 2026, also threw its support behind the Swiss and praised ”a clear, stable, and transparent governance model".
Perhaps most significantly, Infantino has received the unanimous backing of the African governing body CAF.
A statement on Thursday said: ”The CAF EXCO also unanimously reconfirmed its support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino and thanked him for his support for African football over the years.”
With 54 member associations, CAF is the second-largest governing body after UEFA.
Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness has called for Infantino to resign, after suggesting that "the international football cooperation is very much in trouble".
"He does not have the institutional trust required to govern FIFA stably in the times we are in. There is no going back for Gianni Infantino," Klaveness told reporters.
"The international football cooperation is very much in trouble, and we must have a reason to get together now, and we want to ask the FIFA president to resign now."
She added: "We will see which other countries eventually join in, if that becomes the strategy from the UEFA board - we talk to them a lot and they have to manage that, and you will have to ask them the question.
"We are not going to ask for an extraordinary [UEFA board] meeting, we will ask him to resign in our dialogue with FIFA."
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