New Zealand breaks with OFC, withdraws Infantino support
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- New Zealand Football broke rank with the Oceania Football Confederation to withdraw support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino, becoming the latest federation to turn against him ahead of the March FIFA Congress.
- Infantino has lost backing from three regional confederations — UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation, and Concacaf — over his aborted plan to sell 20% of the World Cup's commercial rights to private investors via the FIFA Forward Enterprise Scheme.
- The Confederation of African Football and CONMEBOL remain aligned behind Infantino's bid for a fourth presidential term, while OFC counterpart New Caledonia and Concacaf defectors Mexico, Grenada, and St Kitts and Nevis have also broken ranks to back him.
- New Zealand Football is seeking an independent review of the FFE scheme, with CEO Andrew Pragnell saying NZF wants to avoid 'a sort of in-house quick washover' of the controversy.
- Individual member nations including England, Wales, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland had already confirmed they would not support Infantino's re-election bid.
- The OFC welcomed FIFA's decision to withdraw the FFE proposal but stopped short of formally withdrawing support for Infantino.
Why it matters: The opposition to Infantino has hardened into a continental split: UEFA, AFC, and Concacaf are now against him, while CAF and CONMEBOL remain supportive. New Zealand's defection from OFC consensus adds the only 2026 World Cup-qualified Oceanian vote to the rebellion, and NZF's push for an independent review signals the dispute will outlast Infantino's March re-election bid.
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